EU leaders to provide 90 billion euros in loans to Ukraine

EU leaders struck a deal to provide Ukraine with a €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) loan after failing to agree on the use of frozen Russian assets.

The agreement, which leaders said would meet Ukraine’s military and economic needs for the next two years, was reached after more than a day of talks at a summit in Brussels.

“We promised and we delivered,” EU President Antonio Costa wrote on the X as he announced the deal to provide loans backed by the EU’s common budget.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged leaders to use 200 billion euros of frozen Russian assets, but Belgium, which holds a lot of cash, is demanding guarantees of sharing the burden, which is too much for other countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, said he believed Europe’s re-engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be “useful”.

“I believe it is in our interest as Europeans and Ukrainians to find the right framework to re-engage in this discussion,” he said, adding that Europeans should find ways to do so “in the coming weeks.”

Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever said earlier on Friday that EU leaders had decided to avoid “chaos and fragmentation” by lending to Ukraine by borrowing cash rather than using frozen Russian assets.

“We stay united,” DeWever added.

Ukraine is still months away from running out of cash, and Zelensky said that without an infusion of funds in the spring, Ukraine “will have to reduce drone production.”

The EU estimates Ukraine will need an additional 135 billion euros over the next two years to stay afloat, with the cash crunch set to begin in April.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who pushed for the asset plan, said the final decision on the loan “sends a clear signal to Putin.”

Russia has warned EU leaders not to use Russian funds, but Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said they must “step up”.

The agreement provides a much-needed lifeline to Kyiv as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s war.

U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Miami this weekend for further talks on a peace plan, a White House official told AFP. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is believed to be in Miami for talks with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Meanwhile, Zelensky announced that Ukrainian and American delegations will hold new talks in the United States on Friday and Saturday.

He said he wanted Washington to provide more details on what guarantees it could provide to protect Ukraine from another invasion.