France hails ‘historic’ EU agreement on $105B Ukraine loan

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - The French foreign minister on Friday welcomed the EU’s agreement on a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan package for Ukraine, describing it as “historic” and a sign that Europe is assuming greater responsibility for its security in the face of Russia’s war.

“Historic. Europe agrees on a joint loan: 90 billion euros to be lent to Ukraine to help it resist Russian aggression. With European security at stake, we are taking our destiny into our own hands,” Jean-Noel Barrot said on US social media platform X.

His remarks came after EU leaders agreed at the European Council, following weeks of intense negotiations, to finance Ukraine through borrowing on capital markets for 2026 and 2027.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the deal was reached after member states failed to agree on directly using frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv.