European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to give Ukraine a €35 billion EU loan during her visit to Kyiv yesterday. This will supposedly be the European Union’s share of a G7 pledge to raise $50 billion (€45 billion), backed by the profits from frozen Russian assets.
Von der Leyen, standing alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, touted the promise as “another major EU contribution to Ukraine’s recovery.” While no date has been fixed for the delivery of the loan, she nevertheless claimed “We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly.” She told Zelenskyy that it will “flow straight into your national budget.” She crowed, “You will decide how best to use the funds.”
Remember this is only a “pledge” because there is no agreement yet on grabbing Russian assets. While the European Commission presented member states with options concerning how to continue the sanctions regime against Russia, and how to unblock a frozen Russian assets deal for Ukraine, there are EU diplomats who have said that an agreement on the matter remains far from being reached. Euroactiv reports that, pointing out that Hungary opposes making use of the frozen Russian assets, and several other EU member states have requested further work must be done on the technical details.
