The EU will grant a loan of up to 35 billion euros ($39 billion)to Ukraine to help the country stuck in a grinding war with Russia, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday.

The loan, which was announced while the bloc’s Commission chief was on a visit to Kyiv, is part of a wider plan among G7 nations to raise funds using proceeds from Russian assets frozen to sanction the country for invading its neighbour.

“Relentless Russian attacks means Ukraine needs continued EU support,” von der Leyen said in a post on X.

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 (GW) of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The Group of Seven countries (G7) froze around $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets soon after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They pledged to use the funds to help their ally, but spent months discussing how exactly such a mechanism could work.

The EU in May struck a deal among its member states under which 90% of the proceeds would go into an EU-run fund for military aid for Ukraine, with the other 10% going to support Kyiv in other ways.

The assets are gaining exceptional interest because they are stuck, resulting in so-called windfall profits. Ukraine is expected to receive the first tranche in July, EU diplomats said.

(Reuters)