European financial support for Ukraine
European leaders have decided to help Ukraine with a EUR 90 billion loan with interest covered from the EU budget, but failed to reach a decision on the use of frozen Russian assets in Europe
Sorin Iordan, 19.12.2025, 14:00
The European Union leaders convened in a Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday decided to lend Ukraine EUR 90 billion. The meeting, which lasted until Friday morning, was rather tense, as the participants had two options for financing Kyiv: a loan or the use of frozen Russian assets in Europe.
The latter option is not to the liking of the countries that have been more accommodating towards Moscow since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These include Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Belgium, the country where most of the frozen assets are stored, joined them, as the Belgian PM Bart De Wever explained that he had reservations about using the around EUR 185 billion after Russia threatened his country and him personally if they do.
However, the option of using Russian assets is seen as the best solution by most member states, including powerful countries such as Germany and France. According to the media in Berlin, in order to convince Belgium the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced his willingness to include the Russian central bank’s assets frozen in Germany in the support mechanism for Ukraine. The federal government says Russian assets worth around EUR 3.5 billion have been frozen in Berlin. Poland’s PM Donald Tusk also backed plans to use Moscow’s money, stating that it’s “either money today or blood tomorrow.”
Although EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on the use of Russian money, they decided to freeze it in the long term, and the European bloc said it reserved the right to use it to repay the loan granted to Ukraine.
The President of Romania Nicuşor Dan stated at the end of the Council meeting that the frozen Russian assets are also a weapon in the hands of the European Union in the negotiations taking place on multiple levels, and that talks related to their use continue.
According to statements after the Council meeting, many of the terms or guarantees requested by Belgium have been met, but there are still technical elements that need fine-tuning. However, Nicuşor Dan argued that the loan was the fastest way to support Kyiv and that Ukraine will repay the money at the end of the conflict, when Russia pays war reparations.
The money provided by the Europeans comes at a time when Ukraine’s reserves are almost exhausted. As president Volodymyr Zelenskyy put it in Brussels, his country risks running out of money in the first 3 months of next year, while Moscow has already earmarked USD 160 billion to finance the war in 2026. According to the Kyiv leader, this is yet another signal that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin does not seek peace. (AMP)
