
European Union leaders have reached a deal to give Ukraine a 90 billion euro loan after failing to agree on the use of frozen Russian assets.
The agreement, which leaders said would meet Ukraine's military and economic needs for the next two years, came after more than a day of talks at a summit in Brussels.
EU chief Antonio Costa said in X, "We pledged, we delivered," as he announced the agreement to secure a loan backed by the bloc's common budget.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked leaders to use 200 billion euros of frozen Russian assets, but Belgium, where most of the cash is held, demanded guarantees of responsibility-sharing, which proved too difficult for other countries. Zelensky said he was grateful to European leaders for the agreement, which he described as important support that really strengthens our resilience.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said early Friday that EU leaders avoided chaos and division with their decision to give Ukraine a loan through a cash loan rather than using frozen Russian assets. "We remained united," De Wever added.