EU summit comes at a crucial time, our goal is peace for Ukraine with secure funding for 2026-2027 - von der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Council meeting is taking place at a crucial time, and the goal is peace for Ukraine with reliable funding for the period 2026-2027.
She made the appropriate assessment of the European Council meeting, which will be held in Brussels on December 18-19, upon arriving at the summit.
"This European Council is taking place at a very crucial time. At this European Council, we have one ultimate goal, namely peace for Ukraine, a force for peace. And for this, Ukraine needs reliable funding for the next two years, 2026 and 2027," said the European Commission President.
She recalled that last time, the European Council had committed to closing the funding gap for Ukraine over the next two years. "It’s about EUR 137 billion that are needed. This is our own assessment and the IMF’s assessment. And we have committed to covering two-thirds of this amount, 90 billion euros. I have put forward (for consideration) two options for this financing. One is borrowing from the EU budget, and the second option is a reparations loan. So today we will discuss which of the two options we will use. These will be intensive discussions," von der Leyen said
The President of the European Commission stressed that for her "the most important thing is that in the end we have secured financing for Ukraine for the next two years."
Commenting on the position of Belgium, which has already expressed its reservations about the reparation loan, von der Leyen said: "I fully support Belgium in insisting on taking into account their concerns and fears. And we are working day and night with Belgium. I want to thank the Prime Minister for his personal involvement in this matter. It is absolutely clear, and I support this, that if we take a reparation loan, the risk should be shared by all of us. This is a question of solidarity, which is a fundamental principle of the European Union," the European Commission President stressed.
Von der Leyen expressed confidence that leaders should find a solution today. "The President of the Council (Antonio Costa) said, and I support him in this, that we will not leave the European Council without a decision on the financing of Ukraine for the next two years. And of these two options, one of them should then be agreed in the European Council," she added.
As previously reported, a meeting of the European Council will be held in Brussels on December 18-19, the main issue of which will be the financing of Ukraine for 2026-2027. The European Commission has proposed two options - external borrowing from the EU and a reparation loan based on immobilized Russian assets. The option with borrowing requires a decision by all 27 EU member states, which, as is known, will not be supported by Hungary. As for the reparation loan, a qualified majority is required to adopt this decision. The position of Belgium will be decisive, because it is in this country that the bulk of immobilized Russian assets are stored in the Euroclear institution. The Belgian Prime Minister demands reliable guarantees and a fair distribution of the financial burden in the event of retaliatory actions by the Russian Federation.