The EU’s 27 member states gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a €90 billion ($106 billion) loan package for Ukraine, diplomats said, ending months of delay caused by a Hungarian veto. The Cypriot EU presidency said it expects unanimous final sign-off from all member states on Thursday. The loan is designed to help Kyiv cover urgent economic and military needs as it continues to resist Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The breakthrough followed Kyiv’s announcement that the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine, has resumed deliveries of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. Budapest and Bratislava could still block the final approval if oil shipments have not arrived in the EU by Thursday. Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Slovak government had alleged Ukraine slowed repairs on the line, an accusation Kyiv rejected. The loan’s prospects improved after Orbán’s election defeat in April; his successor-elect, Péter Magyar, who is not expected to take office until next month, has said he will no longer oppose the package.
EU ambassadors also agreed to the bloc’s 20th sanctions package on Russia, which had been held up by the dispute with Hungary. The EU had aimed to adopt the measures to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the invasion on February 24. The latest sanctions are intended to further weaken Russia’s economy and curb Moscow’s ability to finance its war.