Dec. 18 (UPI) -- European leaders have agreed to continue funding Ukraine in its fight against Russia with a two-year, $105 billion loan to provide the embattled nation with munitions and other material in the ongoing war, the latest battle of which has dragged on since 2022.
European leaders failed to agree on the first choice to arm Ukraine, using frozen Russian state assets as backing for the loan.
The plan to use frozen Russian assets to back the loan fell apart in the final moments, a schism that risked making the EU appear indecisive at a critical moment in negotiations.
European leaders announced Thursday that they will instead use money from the EU budget to fund Ukraine's defense effort. As a result, the backup plan could be more costly and difficult to mobilize than the original plan to leverage the stash of Russian money currently frozen in Europe.
European leaders said since the end result is the same, getting funds to Kyiv, they celebrated it as a victory.
