this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
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Speaking later, von der Leyen said she thought it would be possible to disburse the first tranche of the €45bn funding planned for 2026 in this quarter, meaning by the end of June. The first payment, she indicated, would fund Ukraine’s domestic drone production – “drones from Ukraine for Ukraine”.

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[–] TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 17 hours ago

Suck it Orban!

[–] Tolc@lemmy.world 10 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

hope they sanction israel with the same intensity

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 6 points 17 hours ago

One can hope, but sadly, there is a difference in EU responses. There is no consensus and nothing gets done. :o

[–] lithiumground@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Is it loan or donation ? Dont conflate

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 5 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Direct from the EU:

The loans will become repayable only once Russia has paid war reparations to Ukraine.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/04/23/council-finalises-90-billion-support-loan-to-ukraine/

Until then, it's a donation.

[–] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

The loan, funded by EU borrowing with the intention that Russian reparations will fund repayments...

[–] lithiumground@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Do you think , Russia will pay that money ?

[–] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

No. But the EU holds over €200 billion of frozen Russian funds, which are immobilized indefinitely, until Russia pays for the damages. But I really don't know how any of that shit works

[–] Vergissmeinnicht@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 hours ago

Seems like a roundabout way of giving frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 37 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And absolutely nothing bad happened to Hungary as a result. See how easy that was?

[–] MrFinnbean@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

Well they got what they wanted and Russian Oil Flows Again through the Druzhba Pipeline...

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

IMHO, with this sum, Ukraine can finance enough drone production to saturate and overwhelm Russia's air defense regularly, and regularly bomb industries which the Russian war effort relies on, with enough drones to disable them.

It is unlikely that Russia will stop producing drones and doing the same, but starting from this summer, it will take damage to strategically important places on a weekly basis, and might run out of money to finance things.

If one looks at polls from "levada.ru", Putin's popularity is already dropping at a rapid rate for some months. Hopefully this will accelerate.

The remaining question is: how exactly will the war end? Hopefully with negotiations, but other scenarios are possible. It could be economic crisis, strikes and protests in Russia. Or a coup. But it could also be escalation to weapons of mass destruction. The role of Ukraine's allies should be to deter Russia from using that last option.

[–] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 19 points 1 day ago

Ukraine can finance enough drone production to saturate and overwhelm Russia’s air defense regularly, and regularly bomb industries which the Russian war effort relies on, with enough drones to disable them.

That's already happening. The money means Ukraine can continue for a long time and Russia can't simply wait them out.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 5 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I'm wondering the same. What does it matter if his popularity drops? Wouldn't it just continue until he is dead or there's a wave of massive, violent strikes and protests — large enough for the ruling class to fear for their lives?

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 4 points 17 hours ago

A drop in popularity would be a strong incentive to negotiate a solution, because they aren't fools.

If propaganda is no longer working and critical thresholds are passed ("the fridge defeats the TV") and government workers feel that status no longer protects them, then a wave of protest can't be far. When it comes to protest, sadly it will be violent in Russia - because previous protest has been violently dealt with.

Putin and his elite will definitely want to avoid that.

[–] panthera_@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Putin will never agree to pay reparations. The EU should simply be happy that the money is being used to stop Russian aggression. Hopefully that's enough. If not, Europe would have to send in troops. Candidates for sending in troops are Britain and France. Too many European countries can't send in troops because Putin would complain that Russia is being overwhelmed and must go nuclear.

[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

They dont have to go nuclear, they can just hop back on their side of the border and build a huge wall, hey, we'll even help them build it from the opposite side so that we'll never have to deal with their spilling madness again.