Ukraine / Envato Market

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

BRUSSELS/WARSAW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – After hours of tense negotiations, European Union leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a 90 billion euro loan (about $100 billion) to meet the wartorn nation’s urgent financial needs. However, they failed to reach a consensus on whether the loan should be secured using Russia’s frozen assets held in Europe.

Despite the divisions, Ukraine’s president on Friday welcomed the decision. Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the European Union’s agreement to grant his war-torn country a 90 billion euro loan sends “a strong signal” to Moscow.

President Zelenskyy added that the move shows Russia that, in his words, “there is no point in continuing the fight,” as Ukraine continues to receive financial support from its Western partners. Zelenskyy stressed that the loan would help Ukraine sustain its resistance against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

Yet the accord followed talks that exposed divisions within the European Union.

Most EU member states supported securing the loan using part of the roughly 210 billion euros (some $230 billion) in Russian assets frozen within the 27-nation bloc. Belgium, which holds about 88 percent of those frozen funds, opposed the plan unless it received unlimited financial guarantees from other EU member states in case Russia successfully sues for damages.

HUNGARY SIDES WITH BELGIUM

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán supported Belgium’s position, warning that seizing Russian funds could escalate the conflict. “If someone in the European Union takes money from one warring party and gives it to the other, we are entering a war,” Orbán said. “That is why I agree with the Belgian prime minister.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk sharply disagreed, arguing that failure to act would result in further bloodshed. “Either money today or blood tomorrow,” Tusk said. “And this is not only about Ukraine — it is about Europe. This is our decision to make, he stressed, adding that European leaders should finally ”rise to the occasion.”

The EU’s executive European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed those concerns, stressing that all EU members must share the financial risks involved.

“The risk has to be shared by all of us,” she said. “This is a matter of solidarity, a core principle of the European Union.”

COMPROMISE REACHED ON LOAN

Despite the tensions, EU leaders agreed on a compromise to raise the loan on capital markets, backed by the EU budget rather than directly by frozen Russian assets.

Ukraine would be required to repay the loan only if Russia eventually pays reparations for the damage caused by the war — a scenario widely considered unlikely in the near future.

Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated claims that Russia has no intention of attacking Europe, blaming the NATO military alliance for rising tensions and dismissing Western warnings as unfounded.

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