Ukrainian president expresses gratitude to European leaders for loan plan despite their failure to take up proposal to use frozen Russian funds

• EU leaders agree €90bn loan for Ukraine but without use of frozen Russian assets

Babiš’s partner in the opt-out three, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, made it clear overnight that he wasn’t a fan of the agreed solution, and didn’t want his country to have anything to do with it.

Leaving the summit, he said “Hungary is totally out of that.”

“I think it’s a bad decision. All the others, except the Czechs and Slovaks, think that it was a good decision. I think it was an extremely bad decision, which brings Europe closer to the war.”

He continued:

“ It looks like a loan, but of course, the Ukrainians will never be able to pay it back, so it’s basically lost money, and those who are behind that loan will take the responsibility and the financial consequences of that.

[The] three countries decided not to be part of it, that’s an opt out for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. So we are innocent.”

“By means of enhanced cooperation (Article 20 TEU) in respect of the instrument based on Article 212 TFEU, any mobilisation of resources of the Union’s budget as a guarantee for this loan will not have an impact on the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.”