European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said Friday the European Union plans to lend Ukraine $39 billion to help rebuild the nation’s economy and energy grid, both heavily damaged by Russia’s invasion.
Von der Leyen made the announcement during a joint news briefing in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The $39 billion loan is part of a $50 billion loan package using frozen Russian assets, which was agreed upon by the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations during a meeting in June.
The EU has frozen about $235 billion in Russian assets. The European Commission — the EU’s executive branch — has signed off on the $39 billion loan, but it still must be agreed to by a majority of EU member states.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s most immediate use for the EU funds will be to shore up its heavily damaged energy grid ahead of the winter.
Von der Leyen’s visit Friday follows an announcement she made Thursday in Brussels of a European Union plan to provide Ukraine with about $180 million in energy funding — about $111 million of it coming from the frozen Russian assets.
The funding was prompted by a new report showing nearly two-thirds of the nation’s energy grid had been destroyed by Russian attacks. Zelenskyy on Friday said funding is sorely needed because Russia has not stopped “its terrorist attacks on our power plants and other critical social infrastructure for a single day."
Zelenskyy also said he still plans to present his plan for victory to U.S. President Joe Biden when they meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. He said he hopes Biden will support the plan, adding that it was designed for quick decisions from Ukraine’s partners.
The Ukrainian president said most of the decisions within the plan rely specifically on Biden and “the good will and support of the United States.” The White House reported Thursday that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will hold separate meetings with Zelenskyy on September 26.
Russian attacks on Sumy
Russian forces hit a care center for the elderly in the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Thursday and targeted its energy sector in airstrikes that killed at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said.
In the daytime attack on Sumy, a Russian guided bomb struck a five-story building, officials said. At least one person was killed, and at least 12 others were injured, the Ukrainian interior ministry said in a statement. Photos from the scene showed elderly patients being evacuated from the building.
Zelenskyy said rescue teams were searching to see whether people were stuck beneath the rubble.
A United Nations monitoring body has said Russia’s campaign of attacks on Ukraine’s power grid probably violate humanitarian law. The latest power grid strike came on the same day that the European Union unveiled its loan.
Russia has throttled the Sumy region’s energy system in several attacks this week, reducing power in some areas. The International Energy Agency warned on Thursday that Ukraine’s electricity supply risks “severe disruptions” this winter.
In Washington, U.S. congressional leaders and Biden’s administration are getting closer to an agreement to seek a one-year extension of $6 billion in military aid for Ukraine, Reuters reported Thursday. The aid is due to expire this month.
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
