Nordic and Baltic states weigh €30B support plan for Ukraine

Ukraine will get money from EU countries to fund its war effort even if Hungary and Slovakia continue to block a promised €90 billion loan, two EU diplomats told POLITICO.

EU leaders will meet for a summit in Brussels next week, hoping to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico to stick to their promise to approve the loan, which is supposed to provide two-thirds of the money Ukraine needs to continue fighting the Russian invasion until the end of 2027.

But if the package fails,, Baltic and Nordic countries have a plan to give Ukraine enough money to keep it afloat through the first half of this year, said the two EU diplomats familiar with the discussions. They were granted anonymity to speak freely about the sensitive negotiations, as were others in this story.

The total amount being considered is €30 billion, another person with knowledge of the talks said. As these would be bilateral loans, they would not require EU approval.

Separately, Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen told his peers on Tuesday that his government has made provisions to send Kyiv €3.5 billion a year in bilateral support until 2029, two other diplomats told POLITICO.