Two-year deal will cover most of Ukraine’s needs, but will be secured against EU borrowing rather than Russian assets

Two-year deal will cover most of Ukraine’s needs, but will be secured against EU borrowing rather than Russian assets

European Union leaders have decided to provide a massive interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets, diplomats said in the early hours of Friday.

“We have a deal. Decision to provide €90bn ($106bn) of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered,” EU Council president Antonio Costa said in a post on social media.

With public finances across the EU already strained by high debt levels, the European Commission had proposed using frozen Russian central bank assets to secure a huge loan to Kyiv, with joint borrowing against the EU budget as a second option.

  • dr_scientist@lemmy.worldEnglish
    24·
    28 days ago

    It’s a shame (and maybe shameful) they couldn’t use the frozen assets. I found this from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, but didn’t want overpost the story.

    “Some €210 billion of Russian assets are frozen in Europe, most of them in the Belgian financial clearing house Euroclear. Belgium had objected to the loan plan, calling it legally risky and warning that it could harm Euroclear’s business.”

    Think it’s important to see what influence banks have on highly political decisions.

    Link to Sydney Herald article, similiar reporting.