Zelensky welcomes £78.8bn EU backing for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked EU leaders after the European Council agreed to provide 90 billion euros (£78.8 billion) in financial support for Ukraine.

At a pivotal summit in Brussels, European leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a large, interest-free loan to support its military and economic needs over the next two years.

The move allows the EU to avoid using frozen Russian assets.

In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said the “significant” investment would “truly strengthen our resilience”.

“It is important that Russian assets remain immobilised and that Ukraine has received a financial security guarantee for the coming years,” he said.

“Thank you for the result and for unity. Together, we are defending the future of our continent.”

EU leaders worked late into Thursday night to reassure Belgium it would be protected from possible Russian retaliation if it backed the Ukraine loan, after debating whether to use immobilised Russian assets to underwrite it.

“We gathered today with a clear objective: to address Ukraine’s pressing financing needs,” EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X.

“We delivered.”

The agreement comes at a critical moment for Ukraine, as pressure mounts from US President Donald Trump for a negotiated end to the war.

Most of the assets are held at Belgium-based Euroclear, whose prime minister, Bart De Wever, had previously resisted using them to finance Kyiv.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman was repeatedly asked if the Government was willing to accept Belgium’s requests to share the risk of unlocking frozen Russian assets for use in Ukraine.

He suggested the Government would, telling reporters: “I think it’s evident within the Government’s actions that what we want to see is those immobilised assets used to support Ukraine.

“We believe that delivering these funds sends a very clear signal to Putin that he cannot outlast the support of the UK and our allies, that is what we remain focused on.”

Meanwhile, defence minister Luke Pollard called on former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to “do the right thing” and allow the £2.5 billion from the sale of the west London Premier League football club to be used to help Ukraine.