EU Leaders Meet On Ukraine Funding As Moscow, Kyiv Trade Drone Strikes

Leaders of the European Union are gathering in Brussels for a summit set to decide on a a proposal to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s economic and military needs in the coming years as Kyiv and Moscow exchanged overnight drone attacks.

The EU summit on December 18 comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin crudely criticized the bloc’s leaders, using a word that can be translated as “young swine,” and reiterated assertions that Moscow will achieve the goals of its war on Ukraine by force if a US push for peace does not produce an deal that meets its demands.

Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the central city of Cherkasy, injuring six people, authorities said. Ihor Taburets, head of the regional military administration, said that Russian forces targeted critical infrastructure, leaving part of the city without power.

Overnight attacks left cut power supplies to more than 180,000 consumers in the Cherkasy, Mykolayiv, Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, but electricity had been restored to most of them, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said.

Russia has been striking energy and electrical infrastructure since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and tts forces have intensified those attacks this autumn as the mercury falls. As of December 12, Russian had attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure 4,500 times in 2025, he said.

Recent attacks on the Black Sea port of Odesa and other southern cities left more than 1 million people without power as temperatures hovered just above freezing.

The attacks come as European Union leaders prepare to decide whether to approve a multibillion-euro loan backed by frozen Russian assets to provide funding to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Brussels to attend the meeting and told reporters that without a a positive outcome, “there will be a big problem for Ukraine.”

Belgium, where most of the money is held, fears the plan could leave it legally vulnerable, and other countries including Italy have also expressed doubts.

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“Now we have a simple choice – either money today or blood tomorrow. And I am not talking about Ukraine only, I am talking about Europe,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said as EU leaders arrived at the summit in Brussels.

“This is our decision to make and only ours.”

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said she would not leave the summit without agreement on how to finance Ukraine over the next two years.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a stark warning earlier this week, saying failure would mean “the European Union’s ability to act will be severely damaged for years, if not longer, and we will show the world that we are incapable of standing together and acting at such a crucial moment in our history.”

Swedish Foreign Minister added in an interview with RFE/RL in Brussels on December 18 that “we have to have some kind of agreement that really makes sure that we have a financing support for Ukraine.”

“It’s the most realistic option we have at the table, something we should be able to agree on. But it is also the solution that really means that Russia is also held accountable and must pay for the damage that they have caused Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said the loan would provide financial security for his country.

“The outcome of this meeting — the result Europe produces — must make Russia feel that its desire to continue the war next year is pointless, because Ukraine will have support. This rests entirely with Europe; Europe must make this choice,” said Zelenskyy in a video message released a day before the EU summit in Brussels.

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In a combative speech at an annual Defense Ministry event on December 17, Putin sought to blame Europe and Ukraine in advance for any failure of the peace efforts, saying that Russia will take more land by force if Kyiv and European leaders he described as “young swine” do not take the right approach to US proposals.

“If the opposing side and their foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means,” Putin said, casting cold water on any proposal that calls for Moscow to make territorial concessions.

Moscow currently controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine, and Russian officials have repeatedly said they won’t compromise on the five Ukrainian regions that Putin baselessly claims are Russian.

A particular sticking point in the weeks-long flurry of negotiations involving the US, Ukraine, Europe, and Russia has been the portion of the Donetsk region that Ukrainian forces still hold.

Source: Newswire @ EU Leaders Meet On Ukraine Funding As Moscow, Kyiv Trade Drone Strikes