Ukrainian President Zelenskyy welcomes the development, urging that the first tranche be disbursed by May or June.Published On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026The European Union has given final approval to a 90-billion-euro ($105bn) loan for Ukraine and a new round of sanctions on Russia, in a boost for Kyiv after a prolonged row.The measures were signed off after Hungary and Slovakia dropped objections when Ukraine restarted oil flows following repairs to the damaged Druzhba pipeline.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list“Deadlock over,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas posted online. “Russia’s war economy is under growing strain, while Ukraine is getting a major boost.”The row has held up EU support for Ukraine at a time when the United States has largely cut Kyiv off and eased sanctions on Russian oil exports amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban – who suffered a crushing election defeat this month – stalled the loan as leverage to pressure Ukraine to fix the pipeline carrying Russian oil to his landlocked country.The green light means that Brussels should, in the coming months, be able to start paying out the funds that Kyiv badly needs to plug budget black holes four years into Russia’s invasion.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the EU’s approval of the loan.“Today is an important day for our defence and for our relations with the European Union. The European support loan for Ukraine has been unblocked – 90 billion [euros or $105bn] over two years,” Zelenskyy said on X.“It matters that Ukraine is securing this level of financial certainty – after more than four years of full-scale war,” he added, urging that the first tranche be disbursed by May or June. Advertisement New Russia sanctionsAt the same time, the EU’s 27 countries al …
