EU leaders agreed overnight to provide a €90bn (£79bn) interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.
However, the bloc failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed the use of frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.
With the government in Kyiv on the verge of bankruptcy, the International Monetary Fund has estimated Ukraine will need €137bn (£120.7bn) in 2026 and 2027 to stay afloat.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned before the talks that it would be a case of “either money today or blood tomorrow” to help Ukraine.
The EU’s plan had initially been to use some of the €210bn (£180.5bn) worth of Russian assets frozen in Europe, mostly in Belgium.
Leaders worked deep into the night to reassure Brussels that it would be protected from any Russian retaliation if it backed the plan, but as talks bogged down, it was decided to borrow the money on capital markets instead.
“We have a deal. Decision to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered,” EU Council President Antonio Costa said in a post on social media.
Not all countries agreed to the loan package. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refuse to support Ukraine and opposed it, but a deal was reached in which they did not block the package and were promised protection from any financial fallout.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal was a major advance, saying that borrowing on capital markets “was the most realistic and practical way” to fund Ukraine and its war efforts.
EU warns Putin after agreeing new Ukraine funding
