The middle-of-the-night agreement reached at summit talks in Brussels offers Kyiv a desperately needed lifeline as US President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year war.

“Today’s decision will provide Ukraine with the necessary means to defend itself and to support the Ukrainian people,” European Council head Antonio Costa, who chaired the summit, said.

After scrambling around for a solution, EU leaders settled on coming up with a loan for the next two years backed by the bloc’s common budget.

The number one option on the table had been to tap some €200 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU to generate a loan for Kyiv.

But that scheme fell by the wayside after Belgium, where the vast bulk of the assets are held, demanded guarantees on sharing liability that proved too much for other countries.

Briefing reporters as the summit wrapped up, Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he believed “rationality has prevailed”.