European Parliament agrees to fast-track reparations loan for Ukraine
On Tuesday, Members of the European Parliament agreed at a plenary session in Strasbourg to accelerate the procedure for granting Ukraine a reparations loan from the EU.
According to Ukrinform, the European Parliament stated this in a press release on its website.
MEPs are expected to vote on the decision at the January 2026 plenary session, after EU heads of state and government are expected to reach agreement on the loan at the EU summit in Brussels on December 18–19.
"The proposal would introduce an EU reparations loan for Ukraine, underpinned by the European Commission borrowing against the profits and cash balances generated by immobilised Russian state assets. This new instrument, if adopted, would support Ukraine's financial needs and state budget, including military capabilities, as well as the country's defence industry and its integration into the European Defence Industrial Base," the statement says.
Earlier, the European Commission proposed two options to meet Ukraine's financial needs for 2026–2027. The first is EU borrowing backed by the EU budget. The second is a reparations loan that would authorize the Commission to borrow cash balances from EU financial institutions holding frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank.
The latter proposal includes a number of safeguards to protect member states and financial institutions from possible retaliatory measures by Russia and from unlawful expropriations outside Russia, including in jurisdictions friendly to Russia. To cover any residual risks, the package includes a solidarity mechanism backed by bilateral national guarantees or the EU budget.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever agreed to continue discussions to find a coordinated solution on the use of frozen Russian assets at the European Council meeting on December 18.
As reported, on December 12 EU ambassadors agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian sovereign assets, removing the main obstacle to providing Ukraine with a "reparations loan" of EUR 210 billion.
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