European Commission chief pledges support during visit to Kyiv, with funds to be used to bolster Ukraine’s economy.

The European Union has pledged to loan Ukraine up to 35 billion euros ($39bn) as part of a plan by the Group of Seven (G7) nations to raise $50bn through profits from frozen Russian state assets.

The loan, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv on Friday, will help Ukraine repair its war-battered energy grid and boost its heating capacity as winter approaches.

“You will decide how best to use your funds,” von der Leyen told President Volodymr Zelenskyy, who said his priorities were to rebuild the energy network, build more bomb shelters, improve schools and buy more weapons.

In June, the leaders of the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – agreed to finance a $50bn loan for Ukraine on the back of future profits from frozen Russian assets. The EU also participates in all G7 discussions.

“Relentless Russian attacks mean Ukraine needs continued EU support,” von der Leyen posted on X as she announced the loan, calling it “another major EU contribution to the Ukraine’s recovery”.

She said earlier that Europe would lend Ukraine its support on a range of subjects, including winter preparedness and defence during her eighth visit to Kyiv.

About half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, and rolling electricity blackouts leave parts of the east in darkness for four hours at a time.

Ukraine’s winter runs from late October through March with January and February the toughest months. Europe hopes to help supply about 25 percent of the 17 gigawatts (GW) of power that the country is likely to need this winter.

Russia has knocked out about 9 GW of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which von der Leyen said was the equivalent of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia losing electricity.

One aim of the EU assistance is to provide an incentive for people to stay in Ukraine.

About four million people have fled since the war began in February 2022, often to Poland and other neighbouring countries.

Von der Leyen’s visit to the country comes after a summer of intense fighting with Moscow’s troops pressing an advance in the east and Kyiv holding onto swaths of Russia’s Kursk region.

As Ukraine tries to bolster military supplies to maintain momentum, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on Thursday that his country would send a new Samp-T antimissile system “to protect hospitals, schools, universities” while underlining that “defending Ukraine does not mean bringing a world war”.

The spokesman of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said on Friday that the West should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and sponsoring “terrorist activity” if it wanted to show it was serious about seeking an end to the war.

Zelenskyy reiterated this week that Ukraine had completed preparation of a “victory plan” that he intends to discuss with President Joe Biden during his upcoming visits to the US.