Paul Kirby,Europe digital editor,and
Chris Graham
Reuters
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (left), European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announce the deal at the summit in Brussels
European Union leaders have struck a late-night deal to lend Ukraine €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) over the next two years, after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets.
Ukraine was set to run out of cash by next spring, and European Council chief António Costa said the loan would be paid back only when Russia paid reparations for its full-scale war.
“We committed, we delivered,” said Costa, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Svyrydenko praised the deal as “a decisive step for economic resilience”.
A bid to use €210bn in Russian cash frozen in the EU, mainly in Belgium, ultimately failed as leaders could not convince Belgium’s prime minister his country would be protected from Russian retaliation.
The bulk of the cash is held by Brussels-based Euroclear and interest from the frozen assets is already being paid to Ukraine. Russia has already launched legal action against the clearing house.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused EU leaders of attempted robbery on Friday and Kirill Dmitriev, his envoy in talks with the US, claimed their failure to agree on using the assets was a “fatal blow”.
However, Belgium’s Bart De Wever said the deal eventually agreed after almost 17 hours of negotiations was a “victory for Ukraine, a victory for financial stability… and a victory for the EU”. EU leaders had avoided “chaos and division”, he added.
Ukraine needs an estimated €137bn over the next two years to cover both its military and its public services, and the EU plan is to cover two-thirds of that.
The €90bn that the EU will raise on the capital ma
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