EU ambassadors have agreed on a €35 billion loan for Ukraine, secured from the proceeds of frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s European affairs editor Rikard Jozwiak wrote on social media X.
“The financial assistance is aimed at immediately meeting Ukraine’s urgent financial needs, which have increased due to Russia’s intensified aggression against Ukraine,” the EU Council said in a statement.
According to Jozwiak, the issue of extending sanctions on Russian assets remains unresolved due to Hungary’s opposition.
Earlier, Hungarian Finance Minister Mihai Varga said that Budapest would not support a change in the EU sanctions against frozen Russian assets, which would allow a loan to Ukraine. According to him, Budapest wants to wait with this decision until the US presidential election, which will be held on November 5, 2024.
The allocation of a 35bn-euro loan to Ukraine as part of the G7 commitments on 20 September 2024 was announced by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained at a briefing with von der Leyen in Kyiv that the money is planned to be spent on energy, bomb shelters and partly on weapons, as well as on air defense.
