Commenting on the results of the European Union summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday that although EU leaders had failed to draw directly on frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, the EU loan for this purpose would still be repaid by Kyiv with Russian money.
The Prime Minister emphasized that thanks to the agreement reached by EU leaders, Ukraine will receive 90 billion euros, which will allow it to begin negotiations with Russia on peace or a ceasefire with “strong arguments.”
The money to finance Ukraine in 2026 and 2027 will not, however, come—as some member states had originally hoped—from so‑called reparations loans using frozen Russian assets, but from a loan originating from the EU budget. As Prime Minister Tusk said, this concerns money from the European Union’s flexible budget reserve, the so‑called headroom. The Prime Minister stressed that this loan would be repaid by Ukraine from Russian reparations that Kyiv will receive after the end of the war. If Moscow does not want to pay reparations, the frozen Russian assets are to be used to repay the loan by Ukraine.
The Prime Minister stressed that Russian assets will be used anyway, only as collateral for the loan. “That means we will get this money back from Ukraine, and Ukraine will repay the loan to the European Union when it receives reparations financed by the frozen Russian assets,” Tusk explained.
The Prime Minister emphasized that this is a decision that will not entail financial consequences for the member states, because this reserve already exists in the EU budget. “To put it in our own words, Poland will not be topping up this undertaking,” he assured.
Tusk noted that although Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were listed as countries that would be excluded from the loan, because that was the only way to persuade them to support an agreement requiring unanimity, they will in fact join it to the same extent as any other member state. “The loan comes from a reserve long since agreed and financed by all member states. Regardless of how much the Czechs, Hungarians and Slovaks wanted a provision showing that they have nothing to do with it, in practice their share is the same as that of the others,” the Prime Minister assessed.
Tusk admitted that the main opponent of the European Union directly tapping Russian money was Belgium, where the largest share of Russia’s assets is deposited—and whose Prime Minister, Bart de Weverwas “the main brake.” “We obtained a solution that invalidated part of the arguments of countries such as Belgium, while at the same time giving them a sense of security that they would not be exposed to the financial and legal consequences of reaching for Russian assets,” Tusk said.
During Thursday’s summit in Brussels, EU leaders discussed finding a way to finance Ukraine in 2026–27. According to estimates by the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, 137 billion euros are needed for this purpose, two‑thirds of which the European Union has pledged to cover. The European Commission proposed two solutions: an EU loan and the use of so‑called reparations loans guaranteed by frozen Russian assets, to which Belgium has been the loudest opponent from the very beginning. (19.12.2025)
