Speaking in Brussels after a summit of EU leaders, Tusk said the financial package would strengthen Ukraine’s position at a critical moment in the war.
"The strong argument is EUR 90 billion," he told reporters, describing the funding as European money drawn from the EU budget’s flexible reserve, rather than from individual national contributions.
EU leaders agreed overnight to provide Ukraine with a EUR 90 billion loan over the next two years, financed through joint borrowing and guaranteed by the EU budget.
The package is intended to cover Ukraine's urgent financial and defence needs.
Tusk said Ukraine would only begin repaying the loan once it receives reparations funded by frozen Russian assets, which remain immobilised under EU sanctions.
"This loan will be repaid by Ukraine only when it becomes possible, after the war, to reach for permanently frozen Russian assets," he said, adding that responsibility for the damage caused by the war lay with Moscow.
"Russia will pay for the destruction and the losses suffered by Ukraine," he said.
EU leaders were unable to agree on using frozen Russian sovereign assets directly to finance the loan, largely because of legal and financial concerns, particularly in countries where the assets are held, including Belgium.
Tusk said discussions on a so-called "reparations loan" had been difficult and legally complex, but insisted the outcome met Poland’s objectives.
"Ukraine will not be helpless," he said. "It will be able to say: we have secured financing that allows us to continue defending ourselves."
The Polish prime minister described the EUR 90 billion package as the maximum level of support that could be achieved within the EU at this stage, saying that frozen Russian assets would serve as a guarantee for repayment rather than a direct source of funding.
"Those who feared legal or financial consequences accepted a solution in which Russian assets secure the loan, instead of being used immediately," he said.
In a post published later on X, Tusk wrote that despite not feeling fully satisfied with the solution, "it is always better to have a piece of something than all of nothing."
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP