EU leaders meet in Brussels to discuss massive loan to Ukraine

European Union leaders are gathering Thursday for a summit aimed at agreeing on a massive loan to cover Ukraine’s military and other financial needs for the next two years.

The leaders will also discuss migration, the bloc’s enlargement policy, trade and economies, but working out how to fund most of the 137 billion euros (USD 160 billion) the International Monetary Fund says war-ravaged Ukraine needs is top priority.

“It is up to us to choose how we fund Ukraine’s fight. We know



the urgency. It is acute. We all feel it. We all see it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on the eve of the summit.

European Council President Antonio Costa, who is chairing Thursday’s meeting in Brussels, has vowed to keep leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.

Many leaders will press for tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets held in Europe to be used to meet Ukraine’s economic and military needs.