Georgian president questions EU’s motives behind Ukraine’s €90 billion loan

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has criticized the European Union’s decision to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan to support its budgetary needs, describing it as a “bluff” that would be difficult to implement.

As Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media, Kavelashvili told reporters that, in truth, the situation was different: the EU had failed to reach an agreement on utilizing frozen Russian assets and subsequently sought an alternative solution. He asserted that the EU is fully aware that the loan is essentially a bluff, difficult to implement, and that Ukraine, in effect, had been “simply sold out.”

The EU summit wrapped up in the early hours of December 19 following an exhaustive 17-hour deliberation, which failed to secure consensus on the expropriation of Russian assets under the pretext of a “reparations loan” to Kyiv. In lieu of this approach, the bloc agreed to extend Ukraine an interest-free loan totaling €90 billion across 2026–2027.

The financing will be sourced directly by EU member states through a pan-European borrowing mechanism, from which Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic officially abstained. Ukraine will receive the funds at zero percent interest and will be obliged to repay only if it secures “full reparations” from Russia—an amount Brussels already estimates to surpass €500 billion.

Previously, the European Commission had declared Ukraine insolvent, asserting that it could no longer provide traditional loans, thereby necessitating direct, grant-style financing to sustain Kyiv.

By Vafa Guliyeva