MADRID, March 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged the European Union to overcome a veto by Hungary on a 90-billion-euro ($103-billion) loan vital for his country.

Zelensky, during a visit to Madrid to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, said he considered that the "main issue" of an EU summit that will be held Thursday and Friday in Brussels.

"We are really counting on the countries and the EU to find ways to resolve this issue," he said.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU -- has been blocking the EU loan to Kyiv, in part because of a pipeline that supplies his country with Russian oil that has been closed in Ukraine.

Ukraine has said the Druzhba pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes in January. The EU on Tuesday said it has offered to send European experts to help repair the conduit.

Zelensky, who had previously called Hungary's position "blackmail", said in Madrid that "it is unfair" that the loan was being held up, as it was agreed before the end of 2025.

"In my view, appropriate arguments will be found" to have the loan unblocked, he said.

The Ukrainian leader was making his visit to Spain after a stop in London on Tuesday seen as part of an effort by Kyiv to keep the war against Russia a priority for European capitals, even as they grapple with fall-out from the US-Israeli war against Iran that is consuming the Middle East.

"Nothing and nobody can make us forget what is happening in Ukraine," Sanchez told a news briefing alongside Zelensky after the two met.

"We will continue to be by your side, as we always have been," the prime minister said.

Sanchez said Spain and Ukraine will work together in the area of defence industry, and ministers from both countries signed several cooperation accords in various sectors.

Sanchez also announced a plan for "bilateral support" amounting to one billion euros for 2026.

The visit to Spain was Zelensky's fourth since Russia launched its all-out invasion in February 2022.

The Ukrainian president was expected to meet with Spain's King Felipe VI later Wednesday.