"After more than 16 hours of negotiations, EU leaders left Brussels on Friday with a deal they had promised to deliver: a 90 billion ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine to cover much of Kyiv's financing needs for 2026 and 2027. For a country warning of severe budgetary shortfalls brought on by the ongoing war as early as next spring, the agreement provides a crucial lifeline."
""We committed, we delivered," European Council President Antonio Costa said after the summit, visibly relieved to be able to present results in the early hours of Friday morning. At the same time, the summit highlighted the growing difficulty for the European Union to translate political ambition into common action, particularly when legal risks, diverging national interests and geopolitical pressure collide."
EU leaders approved a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine to cover much of Kyiv's financing needs for 2026 and 2027. The loan will be raised on financial markets, backed by the EU budget, and passed on to Ukraine as an interest-free loan. Kyiv must repay only if Russia pays war reparations, a condition that leaves repayment uncertain. Several EU capitals and the European Commission had preferred using Russia's frozen central bank assets held at Euroclear, but Belgium raised legal and financial risk concerns. The summit underscored difficulties translating political ambition into collective action amid divergent national interests.
Read at www.dw.com
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