Brussels : EU leaders early Friday announced a multi-billion dollar funding plan for Ukraine’s economy and military for the next two years – with the package funded for now by borrowing cash and not tapping into billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets held in the bloc.
Due in part to the United States cutting funding, Ukraine will have a funding gap of $160 billion (€137 billion) over the next two years, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. The EU was seeking to meet two-thirds of that, or some about $105 billion (€90 billion).
“We have a deal,” EU Council President Antonio Costa wrote on X. “Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered.”
Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed the deal, which was reached after discussions dragged late into Thursday night.
“This will address the urgent financial needs of Ukraine. Ukraine will only pay back this loan once Russia pays reparations,” Costa told journalists early Friday.
He added that the bloc’s executive arm had been given a mandate to explore how to make use of frozen Russian assets and the bloc reserved the right to use the frozen funds to repay its loan.
