Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha held a call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to coordinate upcoming engagements, with Sybiha pressing for the unblocking of a €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine. The call followed the defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in parliamentary elections on 12 April, which raised expectations in Brussels that two long-stalled decisions — the loan and the 20th Russia sanctions package — could finally move forward.
"I stressed the importance of unblocking €90 billion loan to ensure continued support for Ukraine and protection of Europe from the Russian threat," Sybiha wrote following the call. The two officials also exchanged views on the Hungarian election results and their implications for European unity, and agreed on the need for coordinated international efforts on the Middle East.
The €90 billion loan is an EU facility that would provide long-term financing to Ukraine, funded by the interest generated from frozen Russian sovereign assets held in European financial institutions — primarily through the Belgian-based depository Euroclear. The principal of those frozen assets (roughly €300 billion) remains untouched; only the windfall profits are used as collateral or to service the loan. Hungary has blocked the package, which requires unanimous EU approval, demanding the restoration of Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline as a precondition.
The Cypriot Presidency's goal: conclude both files "as soon as possible"
Cyprus, which holds the EU's rotating presidency in the first half of 2026, has signalled it intends to move quickly. "Our goal as Presidency remains to conclude both the €90 billion Ukrainian loan package and the 20th sanctions package as soon as possible," a Cypriot Presidency official told European Pravda.
The Presidency intends to put both issues before the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU (Coreper) "as soon as the conditions permit it, with a view to a swift conclusion of both files," according to the same source. Two Coreper meetings are scheduled in Brussels this week — on 15 and 17 April — though neither file appears on the official agenda for either session.
Both issues are, however, expected to feature at an informal summit of EU heads of state in Nicosia on 23 and 24 April.
The Magyar factor: May handover complicates the timeline
Despite the optimism, EU officials are tempering expectations. European Pravda's sources in Brussels say the EU does not anticipate any fundamental shift in Hungary's position on Ukraine until Péter Magyar formally takes office as prime minister — a transition not expected until early May 2026.
That means Orbán will still represent Hungary at the Nicosia summit on 23–24 April. Orbán stated on 19 March that Budapest would not unblock any EU decision favourable to Ukraine — including the sanctions package and the €90 billion loan — until the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline was restored.
Other EU sources cited by European Pravda, however, said they would not rule out Orbán making some concessions on Ukraine even before the formal handover of power.
Background: signals from Kyiv and Berlin
Following his election victory, Magyar declared that Hungary would once again be a reliable partner in the EU and NATO. Sybiha said that messages had been sent to Hungary regarding possible contact between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Magyar. The German government, for its part, expressed hope that the Hungarian election outcome would help unblock the loan quickly.
