The veto was revealed: the EU invested €90 billion in the continuation of the Ukrainian conflict
- Статьи
- World
- The veto was revealed: the EU invested €90 billion in the continuation of the Ukrainian conflict
The EU Council approved a loan to Ukraine of €90 billion and the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions. The allocated funds will allow Kiev to increase purchases of weapons from EU countries, the European Parliament told Izvestia. And the new restrictions may create some problems for Russian banks and the import of Western goods to Russia through third countries, but business and the economy are adapting quickly, experts believe. It became possible to push through new anti—Russian measures after the lifting of the veto by Hungary and Slovakia - the condition was the resumption of oil pumping through the Druzhba pipeline. However, Budapest is still opposed to Ukraine's accelerated accession to the EU, so rapid European integration, which Vladimir Zelensky will ask for at the Cyprus EU summit, should not be expected.
What Ukraine will spend €90 billion of the EU loan on
The long talks about the loan to Ukraine and the "overdue" 20th package of sanctions against Russia have come to an end. The day before, the EU Council approved new restrictions against the Russian Federation and large-scale financing of Kiev for 2026-2027. The European Commission will begin payments to Ukraine from a package of €90 billion during the second quarter.
About €60 billion of this amount is reserved for military support. Kiev can spend them on the purchase of weapons in Europe and on the creation of joint ventures with EU countries, head of the Ukraine–EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in the European Parliament (EP) Pekka Toveri told Izvestia. € 30 billion will be allocated for macroeconomic support of the country — to patch holes in the budget. In total, Ukraine needs 120 billion euros annually to finance the civilian sector and the army.
— These €90 billion, taking into account the promised support from member states and other countries, provide financing for Ukraine's military spending for two years. This is very important, because until now Ukraine has been forced to live "paycheck to paycheck." This loan allows us to make long—term plans and use funds more efficiently, for example, in the defense industry," Pekka Toveri said.
Moreover, the European Union stated that it reserves the right to use frozen assets of the Russian Federation to secure this loan. Moscow has repeatedly called any attempts by Western countries to use these assets theft, as this violates international law.
Tovery called the final approval of the loan bad news for Russia, being sure that Moscow is experiencing difficulties in the economy. Obviously, this was a reference to Vladimir Putin's recent statements that the pace of economic development was lagging behind previously approved forecasts. GDP decreased by 1.8% in January-February. At the same time, experts emphasize that the same construction, which has gone into negative territory, is undergoing a cooling phase after overheating and weak dynamics is a normal stage.
Over the past month, Europe has significantly increased its support for Ukraine. Germany remains the key donor, having agreed a new package worth €4 billion with Kiev a week ago. The UK is going to send a record 120,000 UAVs to Ukraine in 2026, and the Netherlands has confirmed a tranche of more than 200 million euros.
Now there is a clear specialization and "division of labor" in financing Ukraine between the level of the European Union as a supranational institution and the member states as independent donor states, Egor Sergeev, senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia.
"And the military support itself is provided by EU states mainly at the country level, while the EU level is more focused on macroeconomic stabilization," the expert notes.
Financing from European countries accelerated back in 2025, after the United States limited its assistance, Sergeev drew attention. Earlier, the head of the State Department, Marco Rubio, said that the PURL program, through which American weapons enter Ukraine, is still working, but everything may change taking into account the national interests of the United States due to the situation in the Middle East.
However, NATO will continue to provide support anyway. Earlier, Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the alliance's members should invest even more in support of Ukraine — $60 billion in aid is expected during 2026, and this is in excess of the EU loan. Rutte stressed that any funds that will come from this loan should be "additional to what the allies allocate on a bilateral basis."
The main limitations of the 20th package of sanctions
The next package of sanctions against Russia was approved in a stripped-down form, without a ban on sea transportation of Russian oil, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said. Obviously, this step is explained by the shortage of oil on the world market due to the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. A ban on oil shipping would further inflate global energy prices, which would have a disastrous effect on the EU economy, says Ekaterina Arapova, head of the research program at the Institute of International Studies and Deputy Dean of the MGIMO Faculty of International Relations at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
— In addition, in practice, this measure, if adopted in the future, may lead to the confiscation of goods and arrests of ships that enter the territorial waters of European states. This could create a serious legal incident and escalate political tensions, because Russia will have to respond," the expert said.
Today, Russian oil is transported by Greek and Maltese vessels, so a similar ban would apply to them. Nevertheless, the new sanctions affected Russian and Belarusian energy companies: Bashneft, a number of Lukoil subsidiaries, Slavneft, the Belarusian Oil Company, a number of refineries and ports, as well as 46 oil tankers.
Despite the impressive list, these sanctions will have no impact on Russian oil trade, as nothing goes from these terminals and refineries to the European market, Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund and an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, explained to Izvestia. Russian tankers also do not transport energy resources to Europe, so there will be no effect for them.
The adoption of a mechanism to combat exports to Russia through third countries has become very resonant. For example, in Kyrgyzstan it was forbidden to sell radio equipment and machine robots with numerical control. In this case, Russia will be able to replace these goods with supplies from other countries, so it will not cause much damage to the economy, Ekaterina Arapova is sure. At the same time, the EU has set a dangerous precedent, which in the future may prohibit the export of any goods.
— With this decision, the EU has opened a Pandora's box, exacerbating uncertainty and a crisis of confidence in its foreign trade policy. On the horizon of two to three years, as a result of switching third countries to more reliable suppliers, he may lose large sales markets not only for those categories that they prohibit at the moment, but also for a wider group of goods," the expert emphasized.
20 Russian banks were also sanctioned, including Postbank, Avangard, SDM-Bank, Russian Standard, WB Bank and a number of others. This can create inconveniences, since a sufficient number of international transactions were carried out through them, Arapova believes. At the same time, the Russian banking system has already adapted to the sanctions pressure, so in the future it will be able to rebuild itself and overcome these restrictions with the help of the national currency system and the creation of new banks.
Operations with the RUBx cryptocurrency and any support from the EU in the development of the digital ruble are also subject to restrictions. Finally, the EU has imposed a total ban on suppliers and platforms created in Russia for the transfer and exchange of crypto assets.
— Providers and companies from the EU have not provided us with anything in this area. Therefore, this ban is not actually relevant. It would be strange if Russian operators in this area relied on some developments from EU countries," the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) said in an interview with Izvestia Ivan Timofeev.
As for the development of the digital ruble, firstly, the relevant law on its mass implementation has not even entered into force yet (this will happen only on September 1, 2026), and secondly, it is only one of the payment instruments, albeit with great potential, said the financial adviser and founder of Rodin.Capital Alexey Rodin.
In addition, the European Union imposed sanctions against 117 individuals, including rapper Timati, director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky, as well as a number of officials, media executives and athletes.
In general, the latest EU sanctions are extremely formal and often technical in nature, based on the principle of "measure for measure," Rodin concluded.
Is Ukraine's European integration progressing
Obviously, the adoption of the 20th package of sanctions and the allocation of a loan to Ukraine became possible only after Hungary and Slovakia lifted their veto on the next restrictions, and Budapest also on the loan.
As promised by Viktor Orban, who will soon give way to Peter Magyar, all obstacles were removed by Kiev's resumption of oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, which was announced yesterday by the Hungarian company MOL. The rapid resumption of the oil pipeline proved to be a clear confirmation that it was not damaged, and Kiev used the blockage in the geopolitical struggle on the eve of the elections in Hungary, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
On April 23, an informal EU summit started in Cyprus, which was joined by Vladimir Zelensky. He was expected to speak at the meeting via video link, however, as reported by the Financial Times, he decided to personally communicate with the heads of EU states. According to the newspaper's sources, the main purpose of the visit is to make progress on Ukraine's accession to the EU. Until recently, Viktor Orban and Robert Fico posed the main threat in this regard due to Kiev's energy blackmail.
The European Union will work with the new Hungarian government to enlist its support for Kiev's inclusion in the EU, Pekka Tovery told Izvestia.
— Peter Magyar has already stated that he has no problems with Ukraine's membership, but he does not accept any accelerated procedures, and Ukraine must fulfill all the requirements before membership becomes possible. This has also been stated by some other member states, so there is no news about this," the European official clarified.
The new Hungarian prime minister also hinted at the possibility of holding a national referendum on Ukraine's membership, which could take place in a few years, Tovery added. Now, according to him, it is most important that the accession process can continue. After Brussels officially confirmed the completion of the "screening" in September 2025 — a large—scale verification of Ukrainian laws for compatibility with European ones - Kiev has reached the most important stage.
The next stage of integration is the opening of six negotiation clusters. These are huge thematic blocks, for each of which Ukraine will have to prove not only the existence of the necessary laws, but also their real work. The most important of them is the "Fundamentals", which include justice and the fight against corruption. Ukraine now wants to open these clusters not one at a time, but simultaneously, in order to shorten the period of EU accession as much as possible.
But first, a new government should officially appear in Hungary, said European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, assuring that Brussels would try to open all six clusters by about the end of the year.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
