Looking at that last Putin line on “robbery,” that’s exactly what I meant earlier (10:46).
Rightly or wrongly, Putin will see the EU’s decision to move away from the reparations loan backed by frozen Russian assets as a win for his campaign after all these Kremlin warnings about “severe consequences” for Belgium specifically and the EU more broadly, which seems to have influenced the thinking of some EU countries when coming to the summit.
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Putin calls EU reparations loan idea 'robbery' and warns about consequences
Oh, Russia’s Putin has now offered his take on the idea of using frozen Russian assets, calling it a “robbery” and saying the leaders failed to agree fearing that “the consequences could be really harsh for the robbers.”
He said the move, if passed, would have undermined the confidence in the eurozone, with worrying precedent that could be abused in the future against other countries or groups.
“No matter what they steal, sooner or later, they will have to give it back, and most importantly, we will go to court to protect our interests. We will do our utmost to find a jurisdiction that will be independent from the political context,” he warned.
EU summit secures money for Ukraine, but politically its outcome is more complicated - snap analysis
If you only read the headline, you would think that the outcome of this council is exactly as expected. Ukraine gets its 2026 funding, Zelenskyy is relieved after his warnings about financial difficulties, and Europe shows its continued backing for Kyiv.
Well, the reality is somewhat more complex.
Behind the scenes, this was not a victory lap, but more of a last minute fix to save the day.
For days, most senior EU figures like commission president Ursula von der Leyen and key leaders like German chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted in strong words that the use of frozen Russian assets was the best – morally and financially – option for funding Ukraine. In the process of doing that, they actively played down the alternatives (including the very one they ended up agreeing on!).
But during the summit, faced with multi-faceted opposition from various partners, their original view did not hold.
In the end, Belgium’s determined opposition to the proposal amid pressure from Russia and the central European Awkward Three’s clever use of their veto threat forced the leaders to change their tactic and settle for what had been a less preferred option.
Financially, the outcome is essentially the same, and Ukraine gets the money it so needed to continue defending itself from Russia’s aggression.
Zelenskyy – after a pretty dramatic warning yesterday that any shortfall would directly impact Ukraine’s ability to fight the war – will be relieved to see the money confirmed in black and white. In that sense, the fix does the job.
But politically, it does not quite send the defiant, determined and united signal the EU so much wanted to send when proposing to use frozen Russian assets in the first place, with the strong message about the aggressor having to pay for its war.
Instead, critics will not unreasonably say that we have once again seen the reality of bitter divisions between the countries – even in the face of actual war – and that Russia’s active campaign of putting pressure on Belgium and other countries to block the EU’s proposal effectively allowed Moscow to fend off the proposal it did not like.
Both of these could be worrying signs for the future.
But, as is so often the case with the EU: for now, we live to fight another day.
In this case, quite literally.
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Asked about Zelenskyy’s recent social media clip recorded on a visit to Kupyansk, Putin dismisses it by saying he’s not surprised “he’s an actor and a talented one to boot,” but notes that the monument where it was recorded is “one kilometre or so from the city.”
“Well, if the city is under their control, why do not come into the city itself?” he taunts him.
Unsurprisingly, Putin also says that “our forces are advancing along the whole line of conflict,” a claim contested by Ukraine.
Putin blames Ukraine for continuing war
In his first comments on Ukraine, Putin swiftly blames Kyiv for the continuing war, saying “they are basically refusing to finish this conflict via peaceful means” (whatever that means from the literally invading party).
But he says there are “some signals … indicating they are willing to engage in some type of dialogue.”
He says Russia would be willing to “put an end to this conflict via peaceful means,” but only “based on the principles I outlined … last year” that would see “the root causes that brought about this conflict … addressed.”
These principles were dismissed at the time as maximalist and unrealistic, essentially demanding humiliating concessions from Ukraine.
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Russia's Putin begins annual year-end news conference
Meanwhile, Russia’s Vladimir Putin is now beginning his annual year-end news conference, so expect him to weigh in on the EU’s decision from last night and on the war in Ukraine and European security more broadly.
You can watch it below:
Hungary's Orbán calls EU loan for Ukraine 'extremely bad decision' and 'lost money'
Babiš’s partner in the opt-out three, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, made it clear overnight that he wasn’t a fan of the agreed solution, and didn’t want his country to have anything to do with it.
Leaving the summit, he said “Hungary is totally out of that.”
“I think it’s a bad decision. All the others, except the Czechs and Slovaks, think that it was a good decision. I think it was an extremely bad decision, which brings Europe closer to the war.”
He continued:
“It looks like a loan, but of course, the Ukrainians will never be able to pay it back, so it’s basically lost money, and those who are behind that loan will take the responsibility and the financial consequences of that.
[The] three countries decided not to be part of it, that’s an opt out for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. So we are innocent.”
Ukraine loan turned out 'exactly as I promised,' Czech Republic's Babiš says
New Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš is also very pleased with the outcome of the summit, particularly with the Ukraine loan, which he says has turned out “exactly as I promised”: politically supported, but not financially guaranteed by the Czech Republic.
The country is one of the three – alongside Hungary and Slovakia – that backed the idea, but refused to provide guarantees.
Here is how it reads in the actual summit document:
“By means of enhanced cooperation (Article 20 TEU) in respect of the instrument based on Article 212 TFEU, any mobilisation of resources of the Union’s budget as a guarantee for this loan will not have an impact on the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.”
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Spain's Sánchez backs EU decision on loan as right politically, legally and morally
in Madrid
Speaking to the press early this morning, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez described the EU’s €90bn loan to Ukraine as the right course of action politically, legally and morally.
“As I told President Zelenskyy in a bilateral meeting earlier, the European Union has to support the Ukraine financially, but it has to do so for moral reasons and in the interest of justice – but also because it’s legal,” he said. “This decision is backed by international law.”
It’s Jakub Krupa here, picking up the blog to bring you the latest reaction from Europe and Ukraine to the overnight deal in Brussels.
Good morning.
French president Emmanuel Macron has hailed the deal as a major advance, saying that borrowing on capital markets “was the most realistic and practical way” to fund Ukraine and its war efforts.
Associated Press reports that the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, also hailed the decision.
“The financial package for Ukraine has been finalised,” Merz said in a statement, noting that “Ukraine is granted a zero-interest loan.”
“These funds are sufficient to cover the military and budgetary needs of Ukraine for the two years to come,” Merz added. He said the frozen assets will remain blocked until Russia has paid war reparations to Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that would cost over €600bn.
“If Russia does not pay reparations we will — in full accordance with international law — make use of Russian immobilised assets for paying back the loan,” Merz said.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán agreed not to block the huge EU-backed loan to Ukraine as long as his country, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were excluded from the guarantees for the debt.
The deal will not affect the financial obligations of those three countries, which did not want to contribute to the financing of Ukraine, a text on the EU agreement said.
Moscow-friendly Hungary had previously said it would oppose the deal, just as it opposed the use of frozen Russian assets.
The deal followed hours of discussions among leaders on the technical details of a loan based on frozen Russian assets, which turned out to be too complex or politically demanding to sort out at this stage, diplomats said.
“We have gone from saving Ukraine to saving face, at least that of those who have been pushing for the use of the frozen assets,” one said.
You can read more on the deal as well as other developments in the Ukraine war – including Russian strikes near the Black Sea port of Odesa – in our daily briefing here:
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The EU agreement to provide Kyiv with an €90bn interest-free loan will cover most of Ukraine’s urgent financial needs but be secured against EU borrowing rather than frozen Russian assets.
As Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels, after the summit talks ended in the early hours of Friday, the European Council president, António Costa, told reporters: “We committed and we delivered.”
He said EU leaders had approved a decision to make the €90bn (£92bn/$105bn) loan to Ukraine for the next two years backed by the EU budget, which Kyiv would repay only once Russia paid reparations.
Costa added: “The union reserves its right to make use of the immobilised assets to repay this loan.”
EU leaders entered the summit on Thursday with many wanting to secure the urgently needed loan against some of Russia’s €210bn frozen assets on the continent. But the plan fell over on the demand of Belgium, which hosts 88% of the Russian funds in the EU, to have unlimited budget guarantees from other member states if Moscow won a successful claim for damages.
Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, said the reparations loan was not a good idea and had a lot of loose ends. “And if you start pulling at the loose ends in the strings, the thing collapses.”
You can read the full report here:
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Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Ukraine war.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is grateful to European Union leaders after they agreed on a plan to provide Ukraine a €90bn ($105bn) loan to cover its looming budget shortfalls.
“This is significant support that truly strengthens our resilience,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X on Friday.
The EU leaders’ agreement came at summit talks in Brussels, but they failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to make up the loan funds.
Zelenskyy said: “It is important that Russian assets remain immobilised and that Ukraine has received a financial security guarantee for the coming years. Thank you for the result and for unity. Together, we are defending the future of our continent.”
The agreement came after EU leaders settled on granting an interest-free loan for the next two years backed by the bloc’s common budget, providing Kyiv a lifeline as Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s near-four-year war in Ukraine.
“Today’s decision will provide Ukraine with the necessary means to defend itself and to support the Ukrainian people,” said European Council head Antonio Costa, who chaired the summit.
Meanwhile, US and Russian representatives are set to hold fresh talks on Ukraine in Miami at the weekend as Trump urged Kyiv to move “quickly” on reaching a peace deal.
In key developments:
The leading option at the EU summit had been to tap about €200bn of Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU to generate a loan for Kyiv but that fell through after Belgium – where the bulk of the assets are held – demanded guarantees on sharing liability that proved too much for other countries. Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said as the summit wrapped up that he believed “rationality has prevailed”.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz had pushed hard for using Russia’s frozen assets but still said the final decision on the EU-backed loan “sends a clear signal” to Vladimir Putin. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine would need to repay the loan only once Moscow paid for the damages it has caused.
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, agreed not to block the loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years as long as his country, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were excluded from the guarantees for the debt. The deal would not affect the financial obligations of those three countries, which did not want to contribute to the financing of Ukraine, a text on the agreement said.
Zelenskyy had urged EU leaders at the start of the summit to use the frozen Russian assets, saying: “It’s moral, it’s fair, it’s legal.” The EU estimates Ukraine needs an extra €135bn to stay afloat over the next two years.
In Washington, Donald Trump urged Ukraine to move swiftly on a peace deal ahead of fresh talks expected in Miami this weekend. The US president told reporters in the Oval Office: “Well, they’re getting close to something, but I hope Ukraine moves quickly. I hope Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there. And you know, every time they take too much time, then Russia changes their mind.” Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan to meet Russian officials in Florida, a White House official said, after the envoys held talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Berlin last Sunday and Monday.
With agencies
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