Brussels officials reduced a planned loan after Hungary blocked an agreement that would have allowed a joint proposal with Washington to move forward.
The European Union’s top official said on a trip to Ukraine on Friday that Europe would offer a loan of 35 billion euros, about $39 billion, to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets but initially without contributions from the United States, after talks between American and European officials stalled in recent days.
The official, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday to reiterate Europe’s continued support for his country. Her trip came days before Mr. Zelensky was expected to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he will present President Biden with a proposal to bring about the end of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The loan, which would provide Ukraine with a needed infusion of funds without increasing direct aid from the budgets of European countries, is smaller than the $50 billion that the United States and the other large Group of 7 economies agreed to provide in June. The United States had intended to contribute $20 billion to $25 billion to the loan, but only under conditions that would have barred an E.U. review of sanctions against Russia for three years.
Still, the resolution reached on Friday will be a relief to Kyiv, which is running out of money for weapons and rebuilding damaged energy infrastructure as it heads into another winter at war.
Ms. von der Leyen said on Friday that the European Union would play its full part in the $50 billion loan that was pledged to Ukraine in June. The plan is to repay the loan using interest from $300 billion of Russian central bank assets that were frozen in 2022, though there is a risk that falling rates could decrease the value of the returns on those assets.
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