Overview
- EU governments, in a Thursday vote, formally adopted a €90 billion loan for 2026–2027 and a new sanctions round after Hungary and Slovakia lifted vetoes once Druzhba pipeline oil flows resumed.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine expects the first tranche by late May or early June to fund the army, boost domestic arms production, and keep core services running.
- A European Commission briefing shows a €19.6 billion gap in Ukraine’s 2026 defense budget, with officials also warning of possible shortfalls in 2027 despite the EU’s €45 billion per year pledge.
- The loan will be raised on capital markets by the EU as interest‑free support for Kyiv, with repayment designed to come from future Russian war reparations and frozen Russian central‑bank assets used as a financial backstop.
- Parallel to the approval, Brussels and Kyiv signed over €1 billion in investment deals and expanded EU–EIB guarantees of more than €450 million plus about €150 million in grants to speed reconstruction and defense‑tech projects, while the sanctions target Russia’s energy, finance, trade, and its oil “shadow fleet.”