EU leaders agree €50 billion aid package for Ukraine after Hungary drops veto

EU leaders have agreed a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine after Hungary dropped its threat to veto the decision.

The agreement between all 27 EU leaders came shortly after the start of a summit in Brussels, surprising many observers at the speed with which the deal was sealed.

Hungary had blocked the deal during a summit last December. Agreeing a new package of aid for Ukraine requires the unanimous support of all 27 EU member states.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the new funding, saying it would strengthen the country's economic and financial stability.

Ukraine's economic ministry said it expects the first tranche of funds in March.

Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, had said he wanted to force a rethink of the bloc's policy towards Ukraine and questioned the idea of committing funds for Kyiv for the next four years.

The package will help to pay pensions, salaries and other costs over the next four years.

Diplomatic sources have suggested the new deal includes a yearly discussion of the package and the option to review it in two years, "if needed".

Orban had been pushing for a yearly vote on the package, but this could have left the deal exposed to an annual veto threat from Hungary.

“A good day for Europe,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on X.