President von der Leyen: “Lasting peace relies on a strong and independent Ukraine”

This was stated by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament plenary debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 23 October 2025.

“Honourable Members,

One more topic I want to emphasise from the European Council is our support for Ukraine. And in the last two weeks, it has become even more urgent. Russia has again intensified its attacks – targeting all Ukraine's energy sources at once. In just one day last week, Russia launched more than 40 ballistic and cruise missiles, and almost 500 drones targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Two major power plants were destroyed. So having failed to make progress on the battlefield, President Putin is again trying to terrorise the Ukrainian people. To use winter as a weapon. To freeze Ukraine into submission. Once again, he must fail. And Europe will continue to empower Ukraine's resistance. We are for example repairing the damage done by the Russian strikes. We are stabilising Ukraine's energy grid – with over 2 gigawatts of electricity exports from our Union to Ukraine. And we are protecting critical infrastructure – for example, with new anti-drone equipment. So this winter will shape the future of the war, and our response must rise to the challenge.

Honourable Members,

We all want this war to end. But a lasting peace relies on a strong and independent Ukraine. Today, Putin still believes he can outlast us. He still thinks that, over time, Russia can achieve its aims on the battlefield. That is a clear miscalculation. Now is the moment to come with a new impetus, to unmask Putin's cynical attempts to buy time and bring him to the negotiating table. We must continue to raise the cost of the war for Russia. Also, because the scars are becoming more and more visible in Russia's economy right now. This is why we will disburse today to Ukraine almost EUR 6 billion from the ERA loan and the Ukraine Facility. And that is why I very much welcome the European Council's very clear commitment to cover Ukraine's financial needs for the next two years. This is the reason why we are now working closely with Belgium, and all Member States, on options to deliver on this commitment. It is clear, we will deliver, and we will cover the financial needs of Ukraine for the next years. The discussion is now on the how. There are three options. Option 1 is to use the budget's headroom to raise money on capital markets. Option 2 is to have an intergovernmental agreement, that Member States raise the necessary capital by themselves. Option 3 is to have a Reparations Loan based on immobilised Russian assets. This would mean: taking the cash balances from the immobilised Russian assets, hand them to Ukraine as a loan – and Ukraine has to pay back this loan if Russia pays reparations. This is the most effective way to sustain Ukraine's defence and its economy. And the clearest way to make Russia understand that time is not on its side. We will show that, if needed, we are in this for the long haul. Because this is about our freedom. It is about our democracies. It is about the rules-based order. And Europe will always stand by these values”.