EU nations agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90bn loan without tapping frozen Russian assets
EU leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90bn loan after talks broke down on tapping frozen Russian assets.
The agreement, which leaders said would meet Ukraine’s military and economic needs for the next two years, came after more than a day of talks at a summit in Brussels.
“We are committed; we are done,” EU chief Antonio Costa wrote on X as he announced the deal to provide loans backed by the bloc’s general budget.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had urged leaders to use €200 billion in frozen Russian assets, but Belgium, where most of the cash is held, sought guarantees of liability sharing that proved too much for other countries.
In another development, French President Emmanuel Macron said he believes it would be “useful” for Europe to re-engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I believe it is in our interest, as Europeans and Ukrainians, to find the right framework to restart this discussion,” he said, adding that Europeans should find a way to do so “in the coming weeks.”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Friday morning that EU leaders had avoided “chaos and division” by deciding to lend money to Ukraine by borrowing cash rather than using frozen Russian assets.
“We remained united,” De Wever said. Ukraine is running out of cash in a few months, and Zelenskyy has said that if no injection of funds is received by spring, Ukraine will have to “reduce drone production.” The EU estimates that Ukraine will need another €135 billion to survive the next two years, and the cash crunch is expected to begin in April.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had pushed for the asset plan, said the final decision on the loan sends a “clear signal” to Putin.
Russia had warned EU leaders against using its frozen assets, but Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said they “must seize this opportunity.”
The agreement provides Kyiv with a much-needed lifeline, as US President Donald Trump is pushing for a quick deal to end the war with Russia.
A White House official told the AFP news agency that US and Russian officials will meet in Miami this weekend for further talks on a peace plan. It is believed that Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev will meet with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian and American delegations would hold further talks in the United States on Friday and Saturday.
He said he wanted Washington to provide more details about the security guarantees it could offer to protect Ukraine from a second attack.
Talks between Ukraine and the United States:
The EU talks are also overshadowed by US efforts to broker a deal to end the war. Washington has so far largely kept Europe out of the negotiations—but French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time for Europe to start talking to Moscow itself.
“I believe it is in our interest, as Europeans and Ukrainians, to find the right framework to restart this discussion,” he said, adding that Europeans should find a way to do so “in the coming weeks.”
Zelensky announced that Ukrainian and US delegations would hold further talks in the United States on Friday and Saturday. He said he wanted Washington to provide more details about the guarantees it could offer to protect Ukraine from a second attack.
“What will the United States of America do if Russia becomes aggressive again?” he asked. “What will these security guarantees entail? How will they work?” Mr. Trump, however, continued to pressure Kyiv, reiterating that he hoped Ukraine would “move quickly” toward a deal.
