The European newspaper Politico has revealed new financial details regarding the plan agreed upon by EU leaders. This plan provides substantial financial support to Ukraine, given the failure to reach an agreement on seizing frozen Russian assets and using them to fund Kyiv.
According to the report, the European Union will commit to paying up to €3 billion in annual interest from its general budget. This will be in exchange for a massive loan to Ukraine, part of a broader plan to increase joint European debt to support Ukrainian defense. The report, citing high-level sources within the European Commission, indicated that this interest will be borne by taxpayers in EU member states.
The report explained that interest payments will begin in 2028. These payments will be funded directly from the EU’s general budget, which relies primarily on contributions from member states. This means placing the financial burden on future generations in Europe.
These details come just one day after the conclusion of the EU summit, during which leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan. This loan will be funded directly from the EU budget, following the failure of talks on a controversial proposal to use frozen Russian assets as collateral or a direct source of funding.
In this context, three member states—Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic—announced their refusal to participate in guaranteeing the loan. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized the plan, stating that “no one intends to repay this loan, and the burden of interest and principal will fall on the children and grandchildren of those who approved it.”
Under the new agreement, the option of using profits from frozen Russian assets, estimated at between €185 billion and €210 billion, within what was previously known as the “compensation loan” was ruled out. Moscow had described these proposals as “detached from reality,” warning that any seizure of assets would not go unanswered.
In a hardline stance, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the idea of asset seizures as “plunder and robbery.” He added, warning that it could undermine the fundamental principles of the modern global financial system.
