The EU may be prepping to lend Ukraine up to $45 billion — with or without the US

• According to the FT, the EU plans to raise billions to help Ukraine by the end of the year.
• It comes after plans to use profits from Russia's frozen funds to help Ukraine fell short.

The EU is preparing to provide up to $45 billion in loans to Ukraine within the next four months, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The move comes after a plan to use profits from Russia's frozen funds to help Ukraine ran into roadblocks.

"We will do whatever we can to support Ukraine, regardless of decisions in Washington," Josep Borrell, vice president of the European Commission, told reporters last month. "Ukraine needs to boost their defense capacities — and they need it now."

The International Monetary Fund estimated last year that Ukraine faced a $38 billion gap in its finances in 2025. As such, it relies on help from the US and its Western allies to help fight off Russia's invasion.

In June, the G7 countries agreed to fuel the Ukrainian war effort with $50 billion, using interest from $300 billion worth of frozen Russian assets situated in the EU and surrounding areas.

The FT report said that officials involved in the talks are now worried that Hungary would prove a hindrance to this plan.

The US had said it planned to release the loan by the end of the year, but the idea came with several potential liabilities, including the possibility that the assets could be unfrozen in six months, leaving the allies in a bind regarding the loan repayment.

EU law says it requires unanimous support to extend sanctions every six months, which means that a single country — like the historically pro-Russian Hungary — could derail the G7 plan entirely.

The FT said Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wants to delay a decision on the loan until after the US election in November, which would be very late for the EU to start moving on a Plan B.

Alternatively, the latest plan involves extending Ukraine's standing support package, a move that will only require majority support instead of unanimity and can bypass a potential Hungarian veto.

The FT said the report aimed to adopt the proposal "before the end of October " so that the loan could be released by the end of the year.

As BI's Sinead Baker previously reported, Hungary has sought to limit Western and NATO support for Ukraine throughout Russia's invasion.

For instance, it doesn't send weapons to Ukraine, and it spent months blocking billions in European Union funds for the country before eventually allowing it to proceed in February.

The current Hungarian ambassador to the US did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.