In Kyiv, Von der Leyen pledges EU will raise €35 billion loan for Ukraine
During a visit to Kyiv on Friday (20 September), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a €35 billion EU loan to Ukraine, part of a G7 deal to raise $50 billion backed by windfall profits from frozen Russian assets.
“Relentless Russian attacks means Ukraine needs continued EU support,” Von der Leyen said, standing alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is another major EU contribution to the Ukraine’’s recovery.”
“We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly,” she said.
Friday’s pledge is meant to be the EU’s share of the $50 billion plan that G7 leaders struck a provisional political deal on in June.
“Crucially, this loan will flow straight into your national budget, this will improve Ukraine’s macro-financial stability, and it will provide you with significant and much-needed fiscal space,” Von der Leyen said.
“You will decide how best to use the funds, giving you maximum flexibility to meet your needs, and this will free more of your national resources to strengthen, for example, your military capabilities and to defend yourself against Russian aggression,” she added.
However, further technical details of the European Commission’s plans were not immediately available.
The initial intention had been to collectively frontload $50 billion in funding to Ukraine—the EU and US would provide $20 billion, respectively, with the UK, Canada, and Japan providing $10 billion—which would be backed by future windfall profits from frozen Russian assets.
Over the past months, the plan has stalled over technical talks between EU and US officials.
To fully secure the deal, Washington has requested European allies provide guarantees that the assets will remain frozen until Russia pays reparations.
For that, the bloc would need to ensure that its Russia sanctions regime, currently renewed every six months by unanimity of all member states, has a longer shelf life.
Last week, the European Commission presented member states with options for extending the timeframe of the bloc’s sanction regime against Russia to unblock a frozen Russian assets deal for Ukraine.
However, according to EU diplomats, an agreement on the matter remains far from being reached, not only due to opposition from Hungary but also because several other member states have requested to work on technical details.
When asked whether our G7 parties are likely to contribute to the package, Von der Leyen said she was “absolutely confident that the others will also do their share for us.”
“It is important that we are fast because the urgency is clear, and this move now gives us the possibility to complete the procedures, with, of course, the Council and Parliament also included until the end of the year,” she added.
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