EU plans $39 bln Ukraine loan, as Zelenskiy wants fast decisions
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STORY: “Russia’s relentless attacks mean further support is necessary." The European Commission will grant a loan of up to $39 billion to Ukraine to help the country stuck in a grinding war with Russia, its president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday. "This is a huge step forward. We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly. A loan that is backed by the windfall from immobilized Russian assets.” Outlined on her visit to Kyiv, the loan is part of a wider plan among G7 nations to raise funds using $300 billion of Russian assets locked as punishment for invading its neighbor. Ukraine is facing huge financial needs after more than two years of intensive warfare that have devastated its infrastructure. Russia has knocked out about 9 gigawatts of Ukraine's energy infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine planned to use the proposed loan for air defense, energy and arms procurement. Zelenskiy also raised a "victory plan," of which few details have been revealed. But he singled out the importance of the United States to the plan, and said he and President Joe Biden would discuss it when they meet next week. “The entire plan is predicated upon quick decisions from our partners. The plan is predicated upon decisions which should take place from October to December, and not delaying these processes. We really want to see this, and we would then consider that the plan has worked.” Zelenskiy says the "victory plan" aims to create terms acceptable to Ukraine after more than two and a half years of war following Russia's full-scale invasion. Russia's foreign ministry on Friday (September 20) said the European Union had "lost its mind". And that the "large-scale theft of Russian assets will finally nullify the authority and trust of the international community in the European Union". The loan proposal still needs approval by the European Parliament and by a qualified majority of the EU's 27 national governments. EU member states received the proposal on Friday, an EU diplomat said.
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