EU leaders have pledged a €90bn loan for Ukraine to meet urgent financial needs, but failed to agree on the preferred option for many of securing that loan against Russia's frozen assets in the bloc.

After talks ended in the early hours of Friday, the president of the European Council, António Costa, told reporters: "We committed and we delivered." He said EU leaders had approved a decision to make a €90bn loan to Ukraine for the next two years backed by the EU budget, which Kyiv would repay only once Russia pays reparations.

Costa added: "The union reserves its right to make use of the immobilised assets to repay this loan."

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on X that the deal "is significant support that truly strengthens our resilience", adding: "It is important that Russian assets remain immobilised and that Ukraine has received a financial security guarantee for the coming years."