EU leaders struck a deal Friday to provide Ukraine a €90 billion (US$106 billion) loan to plug its looming budget shortfalls – but failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to come up with the funds.
The agreement – which came after more than a day of talks at a summit in Brussels – offers Kyiv a desperately needed lifeline as US President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s war.
“We have a deal. Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved,” EU chief Antonio Costa wrote on X. “We committed, we delivered.”
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After scrambling around for a solution, EU leaders settled on coming up with a loan backed by the bloc’s common budget.
The number one option on the table had been to tap some €200 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU to generate a loan for Kyiv.
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But that scheme fell by the wayside after Belgium, where the vast bulk of the assets are held, demanded guarantees on sharing liability that proved too much for other countries.