$106 Billion Loan Reflects E.U.’s View That Peace in Ukraine Is Far Away
The delayed funding, which was approved on Thursday, is heavily weighted toward military spending, unlike previous European packages. A firefighter working at the site of a recyclable materials warehouse hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv this month. Credit... Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters By Constant Méheut Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine, The New York Times April 23, 2026 Updated 8:04 a.m. ET For weeks, Ukraine had been caught in a bind. A path to ending the war seemed increasingly illusory, as peace talks with Russia went from yielding no results to being put on hold. That meant Kyiv needed to prepare to fight indefinitely, even as vital financial support from the European Union remained frozen. On Thursday, a breakthrough finally arrived. After Hungary dropped its opposition to a $106 billion E.U. loan to Ukraine the day before, European leaders unblocked the funds and adopted a new package of economic sanctions against Russia. The money, which had been held u...