European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participate in a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Sunday, August 17, 2025. AP
The European Union on Thursday, April 23, gave final approval to a €90-billion loan for Ukraine and a new round of sanctions on Russia, in a boost for Kyiv after a prolonged row. The measures were signed off on after Hungary and Slovakia dropped their objections, after Ukraine restarted oil flows following repairs to the damaged Druzhba pipeline.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the breakthrough. "Today is an important day for our defense and for our relations with the European Union. The European support loan for Ukraine has been unblocked – EUR90 billion over two years," Zelensky said on X. "It matters that Ukraine is securing this level of financial certainty – after more than four years of full-scale war," he added, urging for the first tranche to be disbursed by May or June. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also hailed the deal: "Russia's war economy is under growing strain, while Ukraine is getting a major boost."
The row has held up EU support for Ukraine at a time when the United States has largely cut Kyiv off and eased sanctions on Russian oil amid the war in Iran. Hungary's outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orban – who suffered a crushing election defeat this month – stalled the loan as leverage to get Ukraine to fix the pipeline carrying Russian oil to his landlocked country. The green light means Brussels should be able to start disbursing the funds Kyiv badly needs to plug budget black holes four years into Russia's invasion.
