by Oui
Thu Feb 12th, 2026 at 01:11:41 PM EST
European Parliament approves €90bn loan for Ukraine
The European Parliament has approved a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, providing a financial lifeline to the country four years into Russia's invasion.
MEPs voted by 458 to 140 in favour of the loan, intended to cover two-thirds of Ukraine's financial needs for 2026 and 2027 and backed by the EU's common budget - after plans to tap frozen Russian central bank assets fell by the wayside.
"Support for Ukraine rests on a small number of countries and most if it comes from Europe," centrist MEP Nathalie Loiseau said ahead of the vote.
Nathalie Loiseau et le ministre néerlandais des Affaires étrangères, Halbe Zijlstra, en 2017.
"It is our honour - and it's in our interest because our security is at stake," she said.
Under the scheme, Ukraine will be able to spend €60bn of the loan on desperately-needed weapons to fight off Russia's invasion, with the rest earmarked for general budget support.
The EU has said Ukraine would only need to pay back the money once Russia pays for the damages President Vladimir Putin's invasion has wrought.
The EU will cover interest costs, expected to hover around €3bn per year, through the EU budget.
"This is Putin's war. Make Russia pay," Karin Karlsbro, who steered the file through parliament, said.
Member states reached a deal last week on the conditions for the loan, paving the way for Ukraine to get the funds it needs in the coming months.
The European Commission is pushing for a first disbursement in April.
Halbe Zijlsra, member of Rutte's VVD party ... Russophobe and warmonger ... early stage of NATO led propaganda ... hysteria.
Dutch Foreign Minister Admits Lying About Meeting With Putin | NY Times - 12 Feb. 2018 |
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- In a potentially damaging admission on the eve of his first visit to Russia as a member of the Dutch government, Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra on Monday acknowledged lying about attending a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in 2006.
Zijlstra issued a statement confirming the admission he made in an interview published in Monday's edition of respected Dutch daily De Volkskrant.
Zijlstra has in the past said he was present as an employee of energy giant Shell at Putin's country retreat when the Russian president said he considered Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic states as part of a "Greater Russia."
In a written statement, Zijlstra said that he was not present at the meeting in 2006 but heard the story from somebody who was there. He said he considered Putin's statements so geopolitically important that he spoke about them publicly and took credit for hearing the comments as a way of protecting his source.
OUTRIGHT LIES -- UTTER BS - NATO'S PROXY WAR
Dutch Leader Survives Confidence Vote After Minister Admits Lying About Putin | RFERL - 13 Feb. 2018 |
Opposition legislators who were outraged about Zijlstra's deception had offered a rare no-confidence motion in the lower house of parliament, but it was strongly rejected by 101-43.
In response to legislators' questions, Rutte explained before the vote why he had not informed parliament about Zijlstra's false claims.
"I didn't think this affair would have such a political fallout. I underestimated the impact of this lie," he said.
Rutte had previously defended Zijlstra, saying his warnings about Russian expansionism rang true.
"If you look at what Russia has done in the past 10 to 15 years, the policy that they have followed, you must say that it's aimed at expansion," Rutte said, citing Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists battling Kyiv's forces in eastern Ukraine.
Zijlstra said his credibility had been so damaged by the affair that it was impossible for him to continue in his post.
NATO Build-up of a Stronghold to Persist Attacks On Russia
NY Times Constant Méheut, a syndicated reporter?
Another article by Constant Méhaut ...
Ukraine Pursues a Weapons Buildup More Potent Than Any Security Guarantee | NY Times - 2 Sept. 2025 |
Kyiv sees a well-equipped army as a stronger deterrent to Moscow than any Western pledges to defend it. It is working to attract billions to buy more arms.
Ukraine is pursuing a multibillion-dollar arms buildup that would be funded by Europe, seeing it as the best chance of ensuring the country's long-term survival as American assistance dries up and Western security guarantees remain uncertain.
At the center of these efforts is a new NATO-backed procurement system that will channel European funds into buying U.S. weapons for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes the system will enable $1 billion in purchases each month, with a particular focus on acquiring U.S.-made Patriot air-defense systems to expand Kyiv's limited arsenal.
The new system would both help replace U.S. arms donations that President Trump has ended and also increase and streamline deliveries of weapons to Ukraine over time. A first sale of cruise missiles and GPS navigation kits, worth $825 million, was announced on Thursday.
Kyiv is also betting on its booming domestic defense industry, which has already delivered drones that swarm the battlefield and is now working to produce more powerful weapons. This month, Ukraine said it had completed the development and begun production of its first domestically made long-range cruise missile.
