BRUSSELS — The European Union will provide a loan of up to 35 billion euros (about $39 billion) to Ukraine backed by the windfall profits from frozen Russian assets, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday, after a broader plan from the Group of Seven nations to use Russian assets to raise funds for Ukraine has stalled.
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E.U. to loan Ukraine up to $39 billion backed by frozen Russian assets
The commission, the E.U.'s executive branch, has adopted proposals to enable the bloc to grant Ukraine the loan backed by the Russian profits, and the money will “flow straight into” Ukraine’s budget, von der Leyen said on a trip to Kyiv.
“This is a huge step forward,” she told a news conference, alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “We should make Russia pay for the destruction it caused. … We understand the tremendous financing needs created by the war.”
The G-7 nations had agreed to tap frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with $50 billion — based on a mechanism that would use the interest and profits from the assets — with the United States, the European Union, and others each expected to contribute their relative share.
Washington had sought safeguards that assets would remain frozen for longer. That would mean E.U. sanctions on assets would have to be renewed by unanimity, leaving them vulnerable to the threat of a veto by Moscow-friendly member state Hungary.
“We are doing our share now,” von der Leyen said Friday. “I am absolutely confident that others will also do their share. For us, what’s important is that we are fast because of the urgency.”