EU set to sign off €90bn loan for Ukraine and fresh Russia sanctions – Europe live

Estonia’s prime minister Kristen Michal urged the EU to “keep the pace” when confronting the Russian threat to Ukraine and Europe, warning that “peace will not come from compromises with the aggressor; it comes from strength.”

In his response to the EU’s decision, he said:

“Good news on the €90 billion loan for Ukraine. We are delivering on our promises.

But we must keep the pace. Peace will not come from compromises with the aggressor. It comes from strength. And this support helps Ukraine hold the line.

The 20th sanctions package is done. Work on the next ones is already under way. Pressure stays.”

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the decision as “an important day for our defence and our relations with the European Union.”

In a post on X, he said the loan “will strengthen our army, make Ukraine more resilient, and enable us to fulfil our social obligations to Ukrainians.”

He also repeated his earlier comments that Ukraine will work to get the first tranche of money by “as early as May-June.”

“The funds from the European package will be directed, among other priorities, to arms production, the procurement of necessary weapons from partners that we do not yet produce in Ukraine, and the preparation of our energy sector and critical infrastructure for the next winter,” he said.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is also quick to respond to the decision.

She said:

“We are on our way to Cyprus with good news.

I welcome the agreement from the Member States on the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine for 2026-27 and on 20th sanctions package.

While Russia doubles down on its aggression, we are doubling down on our support to the brave Ukrainian nation enabling Ukraine to defend itself and putting pressure on Russia’s war economy.

Now we will move to swiftly implement on both fronts.”

António Costa, president of the European Council, is the first to celebrate the agreement.

In a post on X, he said:

“Promised, delivered, implemented.

The EU’s strategy to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine rests on two pillars: strengthening Ukraine; increasing pressure on Russia.

Today we moved forward on both: Unlocking the €90 billion loan to Ukraine, securing financial and military support for 2026–2027. Adopting the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, reducing its ability to wage war.

Europe stands firm, united and unwavering in its support to Ukraine.”

Here we go, officially!

The Cypriot presidency of the European Union has just confirmed that the written procedure for adopting the €90bn loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia have now been completed, with unanimous agreement among the member states.

Cypriot finance minister Makis Keravnos said the disbursement of the much-needed money for Ukraine will “start flowing as soon as possible.”

The Duke of Sussex has warned “the world must not grow used” or “numb” to the conflict in Ukraine as he insisted he was speaking in the war-torn country not as “a politician” but as a “soldier who understands service”.

Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan, was addressing the Kyiv Security Forum during a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital on Thursday.

He said: “

I am not here as a politician. I am here as a soldier who understands service, as a humanitarian who has seen the human cost of conflict, and as a friend of Ukraine who believes the world must not grow used to this war or numb to its consequences.

Because what is happening here is not simply a war about territory. It is a war about values. About sovereignty.

About whether the principles that underpin our shared democracy still hold meaning.”

Directly addressing Russian president Vladimir Putin, Harry said:

“President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing.

There is still a moment – now – to stop this war, to prevent further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians alike, and to choose a different course.”

He also made reference to the “American leadership” but did not mention Donald Trump by name, saying it was a “moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations”.

Harry said:

“The United States has a singular role in this story. Not only because of its power, but because when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, America was part of the assurance that Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders would be respected.

This is a moment for American leadership – a moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations – not out of charity, but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Kyiv will seek to receive the first tranche of the €90bn European Union loan by the end of May, or early June.

“This is strengthening of our army,” he told reporters in a WhatsApp chat, reported by Reuters.

Oh, that’s (potentially) interesting.

The European Commission was planning to offer journalists a technical briefing on the €90bn loan and the 20th package of sanctions just now.

But it’s just been rescheduled.

The commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, Olof Gill, told the midday briefing it was due to the fact that “the adoption process … is still ongoing” and that a new date will be set “once we can confirm timelines.”

For all we know, the formal deadline for the adoption process is 1pm local time in Brussels, so in about 20 minutes.

Is the commission just playing it safe, or is there more to the story? Let’s wait and see.

Over in Brussels, the European Commission is giving its daily briefing.

Responding to a question from our Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin, the commission has confirmed its plans to withdraw its funding for Venice Biennale after it allowed Russia to take part in the event.

A letter setting out the warning to the organisers that the €2m grant could be “suspended or terminated” was sent two weeks ago, giving them 30 days to “get back to us and defend themselves,” a commission spokesperson confirmed.

“Should the reply from the Biennale not be satisfactory, then we have, of course, already said that we have the intention to suspend or terminate the contract,” Thomas Regnier said.

“We are strongly condemning the fact that the [foundation behind the Biennale] has allowed for the Russian pavilion to open again at the Biennale art exhibition,” he added.

Speaking at a press conference, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said he welcomed the reopening of the pipeline but repeated his view that the blockage had been politically motivated and the pipeline was “used as a tool in a geopolitical struggle.”

But looking forward, he said he believed “a serious relationship between Ukraine and the European Union was established” as praised the agreement on unblocking the pipeline and releasing the €90bn loan to Ukraine.

Unusually for him, he also thanked the European Commission for its help in getting the oil flowing again.

He insisted the loan was not blocked by Slovakia, but by Hungary, and that he assumed “all things will be finalised today” once the formal written procedure is completed.

He stressed, however, that as per the political agreement reached last December, Slovakia, alongside the Czech Republic and Hungary, will not be part of the arrangement.

“It is a war loan, with which we have nothing do to with. €60bn goes for weapons and €30bn goes for the functioning of Ukraine as such,” he said.

We are getting a bit more detail from Slovakia on the oil deliveries it is getting via the now-restarted Druzhba pipeline.

Slovakia is expected to get 13,500 tonnes of Russian crude daily, meaning it should receive 119,000 tonnes by the end of the month.

“Oil intake is currently taking place in accordance with the agreed daily schedule and technical pumping parameters,” the economy ministry said in a statement quoted by Sme.

in Sarajevo

The EU risks a confrontation with Donald Trump after it sought to stall the awarding of a lucrative Balkans pipeline contract to a company fronted by his personal lawyer, documents seen by the Guardian show.

Brussels has clashed with Trump over trade, Ukraine and military spending, but the intervention in the Southern Interconnection pipeline project appears to mark the first time it has challenged a commercial venture by those close to the president.

The pipeline will run through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under what Bosnian sources say have been months of pressure from US officials, its leaders have been moving quickly to award the contract to a previously little-known company based in Wyoming.

The company, AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, was incorporated in November last year and has not disclosed its owners. It is fronted by two leading members of Trump’s campaign to overturn his 2020 election defeat: Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who defended him against allegations of inciting the Capitol riots that followed, and Joe Flynn, brother of the president’s former national security adviser.

Despite lacking any apparent track record, AAFS is planning to invest $1.5bn in the pipeline and other Bosnian infrastructure projects, its local representative has said.

In March, lawmakers approved legislation that Transparency International said would set a “dangerous precedent” by stipulating that the contract must go to AAFS without a tender.

Days later, Brussels’ representative in Sarajevo delivered a private warning to Bosnia’s leaders that they were jeopardising the country’s hopes of joining the EU.

In a letter sent on 13 April, obtained by the Bosnian investigative outlet istraga.ba and seen by the Guardian, the EU official Luigi Soreca wrote that, under an energy agreement between Bosnia and Brussels, it was “crucial that draft laws are thoroughly coordinated” with the EU.

Soreca said Brussels should have a say in the pipeline legislation. “In this way, Bosnia and Herzegovina can continue to progress on its European path and avoid missing out on opportunities for further integration, as well as financial opportunities,” he said.

Elsewhere, two local trains have collided head-on in Denmark, injuring at least 17 people, four of whom are in a critical condition, according to emergency services.

The public broadcaster DR showed images of two yellow and grey trains, both with damage to the front, facing each other in a wooded area.

The incident happened north of Copenhagen on Thursday on a train line linking the towns of Hillerod and Kagerup, police said in a statement. “It is two local trains that have collided head-on,” a spokesperson for the rescue services told Reuters.

Britain’s Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a show of support for the country in its fifth year of war with Russia.

“It’s good to be back in Ukraine,” Prince Harry said on his arrival at a Kyiv railway station early on Thursday.

Reuters reported that he is set to attend a Kyiv security conference during the two-day trip. His arrival comes when the world’s attention has been redirected towards the war in the Middle East.

Ukraine is “a country bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank“, Prince Harry said, adding that “it matters that we don’t lose sight of the significance of that.”

in Kyiv

Meanwhile, Ukraine’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy downplayed a New York Times report claiming that Ukraine had offered to rename the country’s Donbas region “Donnyland”, in honour of the US president, Donald Trump.

The paper said the idea was initially suggested as a joke. It was then proposed in negotiations as a way to flatter Trump and encourage him to take a tougher line on Russia, it added.

Replying to a question from the Guardian, Zelenskyy denied “Donnyland” was raised in talks.

He said:

“During my negotiations, no terms other than ‘Donetsk Oblast’, ‘Luhansk Oblast’, ‘our Donbas’ or ‘territory of Ukraine’ were used. Accordingly, documents exist that state all of this.”

Ukraine’s president said he could not comment on discussions about “other names”.

He added:

“In my view, the main thing is that the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region remain Ukrainian territory, as they are, so that there is no ‘Putinland’. That, to me, seems to be the most important thing.”

The White House has repeatedly pressured Ukraine to give the eastern Donbas to Russia as part of a peace deal and has suggested the region become a Russian-policed demilitarised zone. The Kremlin claims Trump agreed to a handover during his August summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Zelenskyy rejects this. He says he cannot cede territory under Ukraine’s constitution and points out that around 200,000 civilians live in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast that Kyiv still controls.

Ukrainian commanders believe Putin would violate any peace deal and use Donbas – or ‘Donnyland’ – as a springboard for future attacks.

EU leaders are set to meet in Cyprus this evening to discuss the latest on the Middle East and the next EU budget, starting in 2028.

But it looks like they will have a bit of a detour – and a reason to celebrate, too – as the long-awaited €90bn loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia are on course to be unblocked after four months of delays caused by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

After securing political agreement yesterday, the decision is now going through a formal written procedure, which is set to be completed by 1pm Brussels time.

Hungary and Slovakia have made it clear that they will no longer block the two measures if Russian oil deliveries restart through the Druzhba pipeline, and Slovakia’s economy minister Denisa Saková said that the flow has resumed overnight. A similar confirmation is expected from Hungary soon.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join the EU leaders in Cyprus in person to mark this milestone.

In sharp contrast, the bloc’s disrupter in chief, Orbán, will skip what would be his last EU summit (for now), losing the status of the longest-serving member of the European Council (15 years, 327 days) to Poland’s Donald Tusk (14 years, 73 days).

Separately, I will keep an eye on Prince Harry’s unexpected visit to Kyiv, and EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič’s talks in the US on trade.

I will bring you all the key updates here.

It’s Thursday, 23 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.