“The decision to provide 90 billion euros in aid to Ukraine in the period 2026-2027 has been approved,” he said. According to the agreement, the loan will be granted at the expense of the EU budget and is intended to meet Kyiv's current financial needs. At the same time, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refused to participate in loan guarantees. Koshta explained that Ukraine would only have to return the money if Russia paid compensation. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a similar point, noting that without receiving compensation from Moscow, Kyiv would not have any obligation to repay the loan. For his part, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed the view that the burden of debt repayment and real interest in the future will fall on the shoulders of future generations of EU countries. The issue of using Russia's frozen assets was also discussed at the summit. The European Council instructed the European Commission to continue working on a so-called compensation mechanism, but a direct withdrawal of the Central Bank of Russia's reserves was not approved. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU would freeze Russian assets until Ukraine could compensate. He clarified that the loan would be interest-free and that Kyiv could start receiving the first installments in the second half of January 2026. After the summit, the European Union temporarily abandoned confiscation of Russian assets, reserving the right to use them in the future to finance a loan. Image created with AI / Margarita Neklyudova
