Ukraine deal: EU leaders agree €90bn loan, but without use of frozen Russian assets

Two-year deal will cover most of Ukraine’s needs, but will be secured against EU borrowing rather than Russian assets

European Union leaders have decided to provide a massive interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets, diplomats said in the early hours of Friday.

“We have a deal. Decision to provide €90bn ($106bn) of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered,” EU Council president Antonio Costa said in a post on social media.

With public finances across the EU already strained by high debt levels, the European Commission had proposed using frozen Russian central bank assets to secure a huge loan to Kyiv, with joint borrowing against the EU budget as a second option.