EU leaders to loan €90bn to Ukraine
European Union leaders have agreed to give Ukraine a €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) loan after failing to agree on the use of frozen Russian assets.
The agreement, which leaders said will meet Ukraine’s military and economic needs in the next two years, came after more than a day of talks at the summit in Brussels.
“We committed, we delivered,” EU chief Antonio Costa wrote as he announced X’s agreement to provide a loan backed by the bloc’s common budget.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on leaders to use €200 billion of frozen Russian assets, but Belgium, where most of the cash is held, demanded guarantees about sharing responsibility; This was too much for other countries.
In another development, French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed it would be “beneficial” for Europe to reconnect 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 ways to do so “in the coming weeks.”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said early Friday that EU leaders had prevented “chaos and division” with their decision to provide loans to Ukraine through cash borrowing rather than using frozen Russian assets.
“We stayed united,” De Wever added.
Ukraine is months away from running out of cash, and Zelensky said Ukraine “will have to reduce drone production” if injections are not made by spring.
The EU estimates that Ukraine needs an extra 135 billion euros to stay afloat over the next two years, as cash shortages began in April.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who pressed for the asset plan, said the final decision on the loan “sends a clear signal” to Putin.
Russia warned EU leaders not to use its money, but Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said they had to “rise to the occasion”.
The deal offers Kiev a desperately needed lifeline amid a flurry of diplomacy as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s war.
US and Russian officials will meet in Miami this weekend for further talks on the peace plan, a White House official told AFP news agency. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is thought to meet with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami.
Meanwhile, Zelensky announced that Ukrainian and US delegations will hold new talks in the USA on Friday and Saturday.
He said he wanted Washington to provide more details about guarantees it could offer to protect Ukraine from another invasion.
