EU fails to strike deal on frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine – POLITICO

BRUSSELS — European leaders failed to reach a deal to use frozen Russian assets to send billions of euros in financial aid to Ukraine after 14 hours of discussions at an EU summit in Brussels.

In a blow for EU unity, leaders will now consider a solution based on joint borrowing to send €90 billion to Ukraine over two years. This plan won’t include Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia. Leaders broke from the summit briefly about 1:30 a.m. and will continue their discussions into the night.

With a deal on Ukraine’s long-term financing still up in the air, leaders are talking about a potential bridge funding option to ensure Kyiv doesn’t run out of money. Two EU officials told POLITICO that a new draft version of the conclusions ― the joint statement from the summit ― would see a temporary financing solution put into place in the medium term.

The latest proposal on the EU’s plan to keep Ukraine afloat over the next years, obtained by POLITICO, sets out that leaders agree “to provide a loan to Ukraine … based on EU borrowing on the capital markets backed by the EU budget headroom.”

The outcome is a massive blow for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was pushing the assets plan — and a victory for Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.