EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed to support Ukraine ahead of a third winter of war with Russia – Copyright AFP Anatolii STEPANOV

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Friday announced plans for Brussels to lend Ukraine 35 billion euros backed by revenues of frozen Russian assets and promised to help Ukraine “keep warm” ahead of a third winter of war with Russia.

Von der Leyen was in Kyiv after a summer of intense fighting and as fears grow for how Ukraine’s war-battered energy grid will cope this winter.

The International Energy Agency has said Kyiv faces its “sternest test” so far this winter, with Moscow expected to launch another bombing campaign on the country’s already damaged infrastructure.

The EU official’s trip also came ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky going to the United States to present plans to end two and a half years of war.

“The European Union is here to help you in this challenge to keep the lights on, to keep your people warm and keep your economy going as you fight for your survival,” von der Leyen said.

“We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly, a loan that is backed by the windfall profits from immobilised Russian assets,” she added, speaking alongside Zelensky.

Ukraine is desperate for funds as it seeks to prop up its economy and keep its electricity grid functioning.

The EU’s proposal — which needs to be signed off by member states — is part of a bigger plan agreed by G7 powers in June to use the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to loan Kyiv $50 billion.

The EU has frozen roughly $235 billion of Russian central bank funds since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the vast bulk of immobilised Russian assets worldwide.

Von der Leyen also said that Brussels will “help you repair the damages done by the Russian strikes” to Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

“We will aim to restore 2.5 gigawatt of capacity this winter, that is approx 15 percent of your country’s needs for this winter,” she said.

– Zelensky hopes Biden will support Kyiv plan –

Zelensky said he hoped US President Joe Biden will support his so-called “victory plan” to end the fighting, which has killed thousands.

He is expected to present it to the US leader in the coming days.

“I really hope that he will support this plan,” Zelensky said.

“The plan is designed for decisions that will have to happen from October to December… We would like that very much. Then we believe that the plan will work,” he added.

The Ukrainian leader is due to meet Biden and presidential candidate Kamala Harris — while Kyiv also says he plans to meet her Republican election rival Donald Trump.

Zelensky has said he aims to host another international peace summit outlining his vision to end the war in November, to which Russia will be invited.

His proposals would come after Moscow’s forces advanced fast this summer towards the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine and as Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia in August, holding on to vast swathes of land for weeks.

– Pokrovsk deserted –

In Pokrovsk, a city once home to 60,000 people, AFP saw deserted streets, with most shops and windows barricaded.

Russian forces are now only 10 kilometres (six miles) away from the city, which Moscow has been trying to capture for weeks.

Ukraine has been rushing evacuations this summer but around 16,000 people are still left in the city.

Some of them are deciding to heed the advice of authorities and evacuate with a heavy heart.

“I don’t even have the words to explain how difficult it is,” Alyona Kozynets told AFP just before she boarded an evacuation bus with her three children.

“We’ve worked many years to build all this and now we have to leave,” she said.

Tears ran down her face as she embraced her husband Yuri, who was staying behind to work at the Pokrovsk mine.

“She and the children are all my life. My soul, my heart. And it’s simply impossible for anyone to live without their soul and their heart,” he said as the bus departed.