EU’s Ukraine loan may have been Plan B, but don’t underestimate its significance to the bloc

This €90bn agreement won out over a plan to use frozen Russian assets, but has been hailed a ‘huge deal for the EU’

The EU’s failure to agree a “reparations loan” to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets was a political blow to the bloc’s big beasts, but the last-gasp alternative it devised will do the job – and marks a potentially significant first.

After a marathon 16 hours of talks, EU leaders early on Friday agreed to fund Ukraine, which risked running out of money by next April, with a much-needed €90bn (£79bn) loan. But the solution they came up with was not the one most had wanted.