European leaders have decided to loan €90 billion to Ukraine over the next two years using their own means instead of frozen Russian assets.
After 15 hours of negotiations, European heads of state agreed at 3am today to set aside the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plan and instead align with her main critic, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
Von der Leyen’s plan of confiscating Russian assets was disapproved of by financial experts and international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Instead, the European Union chose a joint loan on the international financial markets based on the bloc’s multi-year budget.
Three countries did not support the loan — Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia — but they gave the green light anyway in exchange for an opt-out. That means the interest-free €90 billion loan will be carried by the 24 other member states, who say that Ukraine will pay them back when Russia pays reparations.
Ukrainian President Vlodimir Zelensky expressed his gratitude for for the European support on X today.
“This is significant support that truly strengthens 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.”
Paradoxically perhaps, there was also relief on the Russian side.
Kirill Dmitriev, special envoy of the President of Russia for investment and economic co-operation, called the agreement “a major blow to EU warmongers led by failed Ursula [von der Leyen].
“War and sanity win, for now,” he added.
In Belgium, the decision is seen as a huge win, especially for De Wever who had been spearheading the resistance against von der Leyen’s controversial plan and had been under pressure from EU leaders and some in the media.
De Wever has been signalling he would fight tooth and nail against taking the Russian assets, because of the far-reaching consequences it could have. They, he said, included a total loss in confidence in European financial security and €200 billion extra debt for the Belgian State.
Belgian Prime Minister De Wever is indicating his country is ready to offer maximum resistance against the European Union’s preferred plan on the use of the frozen Russian assets. https://t.co/Qx1nRPQB5B
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 18, 2025
Belgium said it would agree with the EC’s plan, if all the risks are shared with other member states, with ironclad guarantees including unlimited solidarity with Belgium in the case of fines or damage compensations. The other EU countries, though, did not want to take that risk.
This led them to choose the option De Wever always championed: A common loan to support the Ukrainians.
He called it a “stable, legally robust and financially credible European solution”.
With the decision, De Wever got everything he fought for, although he remained very tactful in front of the cameras.
He said the most important take away was that there was a solution for Ukraine.
De Wever said he explained the risks involved with taking the Russian assets and “asked the right questions” of other European leaders. “And the conclusion of the tour de table was that we couldn’t do it,” he added.
He said “option B” was chosen instead.
De Wever added that reparations for Ukraine remained to be discussed but only when the war ends, but said he did not want to explain the results of the agreement “in terms of winning and losing”.
“The winner is Ukraine, I think, and also the financial stability, I wasn’t comfortable with that regarding Euroclear. The winner is also Europe, because we took a long time again but ultimately we found a solution.”
De Wever said he was able to convince the others by the rationality of the arguments, by being constructive and asking the right questions but also by pointing out that there is no such thing as free money.
“Its not the cave of Alibaba that opens and you just can take Russian money,” he said. “If you ask the right questions and explain the right consequences, people collectively conclude it’s not a good idea.”
His tact was only reserved for politicians because, at a press conference, he did not hold back regarding media outley Politico for what he apparently felt was its biased and simplistic reporting.
“Ah, Politico, you published some very nice articles with some very nice titles, claiming that I was Russia’s most valuable asset? I liked that one a lot. I will remember that one.
“But go ahead with your question anyway. Because, as I said, a real politician lets go of his emotions, even if these emotions are pure anger, vengeance and maybe even violence. But go ahead.”
A Politico journalist had questioned possible division within the EU but De Wever rebutted him, pointing out it was a unanimous decision, including by those who opted out.
He ended his reply cynically, saying: “But now I have to go to my dacha in Saint Petersburg, where my neighbour is Depardieu and across the street there is Assad and I think I can become mayor of that little village, maybe that could be your title.”
BDW vs Politico. Haha priceless. pic.twitter.com/QhyPMx7Mmj
— Theo Francken (@FranckenTheo) December 19, 2025
Despite seeing their preferred plan rejected, von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friederich Merz said they were happy with the agreement.
The EC chief even called it “a big victory” because talking about using Russian assets was very useful. “Otherwise we probably would not have had the courage or political momentum to permanently freeze the Russian assets,” she said.
Merz said he was “pleased that we were able to reach this decision unanimously after intense negotiations”.
“This allows us to draw on familiar European instruments and provide immediate support to Ukraine without further delay.”
