European leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90billion loan without using frozen Russian state assets, following a 15 hour summit in Brussels.
The deal was reached after intensive overnight talks which concluded in the early hours of Friday, and will fund Ukraine through joint borrowing by 24 countries, backed by the EU budget.
The Times reports that Russian state assets will remain frozen but untouched, and will only be used if Moscow pays Ukraine via reparations, which would then be used to return the interest-free loan.
The compromise was seen as a victory for Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever after Germany and Poland were sidelined by a “plan B” that had first been backed by France and Italy.
“We remained united and avoided chaos and division,” said de Wever, in a deal that meant “rationality has prevailed”. “I think Ukraine has won. Europe has won, and financial stability has certainly won.”