Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Brussels (dpa) – The European Union has agreed to provide Ukraine with 90 billion Euro for the years 2026 and 2027, European Council President António Costa has said.
“We have a deal,” Costa said in a post on social media platform X in the early hours of Friday. “Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered.”
EU leaders gathered in Brussels reached a compromise after plans to use billions of Euro in frozen Russian state assets to cover Ukraine’s financing needs for the coming years failed to gain the necessary backing.
Ukraine will only have to repay the new loan once Russia has paid reparations, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the meeting. Should Moscow fail to provide reparations, the frozen Russian assets will be used to repay the loan, Merz said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged EU leaders to find a swift solution for Kyiv’s financial needs.
Without new funding, Ukraine was at risk of running a deficit of 45 billion-50 billion Euro next year and of having to scale back its military production, he said after an exchange with EU leaders.
“These funds are sufficient to cover military and budgetary needs of Ukraine for the next two years,” said Merz. “This is a decisive message for an end to the war because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will only make concessions once he realises his war will not pay off.” (19 December)
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