Demonstrators holding flags of Ukraine and the European Union on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, France on Feb. 23, 2025.
Amaury Cornu | Afp | Getty Images
European Union countries will allocate 90 billion euros ($105.5 billion) in aid to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, EU Council President Antonio Costa said on Friday.
“We have a deal,” Costa wrote on social media platform X, confirming the package had been approved.
EU governments had been debating whether to use 210 billion euros of frozen Russian assets, most of it held in Belgium, to support a so-called reparations loan for Ukraine.
“I am grateful to all leaders of the European Union for the European Council’s decision,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X, adding that it was important that “Russian assets remain immobilized and that Ukraine has received a financial security guarantee for the coming years.”
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy had urged EU leaders and partners to increase support and decide on using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, saying a sustained backing was vital to keep the country resilient and to deter Russia from pressing on with the war next year.
Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever had said his country needed concrete guarantees before supporting the use of Russian assets to fund the loan to Kyiv, citing legal uncertainties and potential litigation risks, Reuters reported.
EU leaders ultimately opted not to tap Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s support package. Instead, the bloc agreed to raise money through joint borrowing backed by the EU budget.
“Ukraine will only repay this loan once Russia pays reparations,” Costa said in a statement. “The only way forward is a ceasefire and a negotiated peace. Our political and financial support to Ukraine will not falter.”
Under the Ukraine Facility and related programs, the EU has already delivered several tranches of financial assistance, including around 6 billion euros in bridge-financing, or short-term loans or advances provided to help Kyiv cover urgent budget needs. Ukraine has also received 18.1 billion euros in loans under a Group of Seven, or G7, led scheme this year.
The agreement provides a financial backstop for Ukraine, while underscoring Europe’s push to shape U.S.-led peace negotiations to end Russia’s conflict with Kyiv.
Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, the European Union support to Kyiv has reportedly exceeded 187 billion euros.
In late November, U.S. and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva to work on a refined peace framework aimed at narrowing disagreements over a U.S.-proposed plan to end the conflict.
That plan, Reuters reported, included provisions on territory and security that reflected some Russian positions, including freezing current front-line control and recognizing changes to control over occupied areas, as well as measures affecting Ukraine’s military and NATO aspirations, which Kyiv found difficult to accept.