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02:28What a twist and turn indeed there.
02:29And of course, the Germans had to cave in.
02:32I mean, not a good night for Friedrich Merz.
02:33He came across very bruised to the German Chancellor.
02:36Look, it was not a good night for the German Chancellor.
02:38Because remember, he had lobbied so hard and so passionately for this reparations loan.
02:43Because beyond the funding, there was of course a question of the optics and the politics.
02:47And the politics of it was, Russia's created a mess.
02:50They've created all this damage in Ukraine.
02:52They should pay it.
02:53You break it, you pay it.
02:54Why should the European taxpayer do it?
02:55Well, ultimately, in a way, this reparations loan is not going to happen.
02:58And the German Chancellor comes out of this also weakened.
03:01Because the Mercosur was also not signed yesterday.
03:04Now, this was a big plan.
03:05And none of the big options the Germans put on the table actually manifested in any way.
03:10So that's perhaps the loser of the night.
03:11And what about the winners?
03:12Who were the winners of this EU summit?
03:14Look, the winners clearly is the Ukrainian president.
03:16Because he wanted the money he needed, the money he was very clear about that.
03:20And now he's got the 90 billion euros that he needs, two years, to fund his military and the budget.
03:26And of course, we talk about this loan.
03:28But we've got to be very honest, Maeve.
03:29The chances that Ukraine will pay this back are minimal.
03:33Then we've got to talk about the Belgian prime minister.
03:36He said, look, there's a lot of risks.
03:37I do not like this idea of a reparations loan.
03:39At some point in the night, he talked about unlimited support and unlimited guarantees.
03:44And that created a lot of nervousness around the other leaders.
03:47So in a way, he also called the bluff.
03:49You know, the idea of support in Belgium clearly had limits.
03:52And then we've got to go to Orbán.
03:54You know, he said this reparations loan is a bad idea.
03:56He's negotiated something differently.
03:58He managed to insert himself in the conversation.
04:00And then by the end of the summit, he said, look, the European leaders, the rest of them, they can do what we want.
04:05But Hungary is not going to pay a cent in this.
04:07And again, through this clause of the enhancement cooperation, they will get the money.
04:13But Hungary will not participate.
04:15The Czechs, nonetheless, they will not participate either.
04:17And the same applies to Slovakia.
04:19So again, the limelight for Viktor Orban.
04:21And he repeated, we said this reparations loan was not going to happen.
04:24And ultimately, it did not happen.
04:26And just briefly, is it enough money?
04:28The IMF said it's probably not.
04:29Look, that's a very good question.
04:31Because when you look at Ukraine clearly, and the IMF has been clear about this, this is a country that has debt sustainability problems because the economy has been wrecked as a result of the war.
04:41What they argue is that loans will not be enough.
04:44Ukraine needs grants.
04:46And that means, going back to today, the 90 billion euros, it's very unlikely we'll ever see Ukraine paying it back because the argument is that Russia would then pay them for the damage.
04:56And then they will repay the loan.
04:57But again, Maeve, do we really believe that Russia will pay damages?
05:01I think yesterday and tonight, that shows that that is very, very difficult.
05:05And Russia, for the time being, is not going to pay a cent.
05:08Indeed.
05:08Marisa, our unions editor, let's just take a listen to some of those leaders.
05:11We can bring in Bart de Wever, the Belgian prime minister, the protagonist, if you like, of the last couple of weeks, and also Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister.
05:19Supporting Ukraine is not charity.
05:21It is the most important investment we can make in our own security.
05:25There was never any debate about whether we would help.
05:31The only real question was how.
05:33Had we left Brussels divided today, Europe would have walked away from geopolitical relevance.
05:39It would have been a total disaster.
05:41Hungary is totally out of that.
05:43I think it's a bad decision.
05:44And those who are behind that loan will take the responsibility and the financial consequences of that.
05:51Three countries decided not to be part of it.
05:53That's an opt-out for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
05:57So we are innocent.
05:58So a glimpse there of Viktor Orban and, of course, Bart de Wever, heads of state that are now hopefully getting some rest.
06:04And Maria Tadeo, of course, hopefully getting some rest, too, after that analysis.
06:08And as you heard from Maria Tadeo, Ukraine's President Zelensky was also physically here in Brussels for this EU summit to warn EU leaders that there are much, quote, greater threats than lawsuits.
06:20President Zelensky also spent hours locked in talks with the Belgian Prime Minister, Bart de Wever.
06:25For more on President Zelensky's reaction to this December summit and the fact that EU leaders went with Plan B to fund Ukraine, we're joined here on SESH by our Ukraine correspondent.
06:35That is, of course, Sasha Vakilina.
06:37Good morning, Sasha.
06:38Great to have you with us.
06:39Look, how has the reaction been from Kiev on this loan, this Plan B?
06:43Well, President Zelensky thanked the leaders for this decision because ultimately, as Maria just said, Ukraine did get the money and Ukraine can continue because the first injection of financial aid was expected to be as early as April next year.
06:55And Zelensky spoke in details yesterday here at the summit about the fact that what will happen and how damaging it's going to be if Ukraine does not get any financing.
07:04So, yes, ultimately, this is indeed a good decision and a good result of the summit for Ukraine.
07:12He also said it is very important that Russian assets remain immobilized.
07:16This is a matter of principle for the Ukrainian side.
07:18Of course, they are defending itself.
07:20They're not the country, not the side that started the aggression.
07:23They're all out war.
07:23This is why they do believe that, you know, in terms of just peace, and that's, of course, the terms that we have been hearing from Ukraine and from the European Union,
07:30it is important to keep those assets immobilized.
07:34But at the same time, there was something else that Zelensky had on his agenda.
07:38That was, of course, the security guarantees and how to continue.
07:41Because financing is one thing.
07:43It is good to have.
07:44But the war rages on.
07:46Russia continues raging that war on.
07:48And yesterday, right after his meeting, after he addressed the Council, I asked him whether those legally binding commitments from the European leaders that we have heard about on Monday in the meeting in Berlin,
08:00can they actually somehow replace NATO accession for the country?
08:05And whether the U.S. security guarantees and the European guarantees are the same thing?
08:10This is what he had to say.
08:11We do not believe that Europe should replace the United States of America.
08:19And, of course, we feel the same way about the security guarantees from the U.S., which will be Article 5-like, and we will not need European support.
08:27These are different things.
08:32And no matter what signals Russia sends, we understand that they would like to exclude the presence of Europeans.
08:38This cannot be done.
08:39These are different things.
08:40This does not mean that if Russia attacks again, Europe will be able to fight with its presence.
08:50No.
08:51No one is saying that.
08:53Europe's presence reduces the chances of aggression by the Russian Federation.
08:59President Zelenskyy there answering your question, Sasha Vakilini, yesterday in that EU summit.
09:04And just beyond the politics of the EU summit, there's other developments going on.
09:08We're hearing about potential talks this weekend between the Americans, the Ukrainians, and the Russians.
09:14Indeed.
09:14These would be two different bilateral meetings, two tracks.
09:17The American delegation with the Ukrainian delegation.
09:19And Zelenskyy did confirm that the Ukrainian negotiators are in the U.S. today and tomorrow, and then separately Ukrainian delegation with the Russian representatives.
09:26And President Trump spoke about it.
09:28He said the time is ticking, except he said it's ticking for Ukraine, Maeve.
09:32It's ticking for Ukraine.
09:33Well, Sasha Vakilini, thank you so much for all those updates.
09:36And for more of Sasha's reporting, you can visit yournews.com.
09:39But, as you heard earlier, there is another huge headline from this very long EU summit in Brussels.
09:45It's perhaps about the concerns of the farmers that the EU Mercosur trade deal has been postponed.
09:51Farmers from all across Europe gathered in Brussels for a very long, noisy demo.
09:56But less violent, perhaps, than farmer protests that we've seen in the past.
10:00And while the farmers were out in the streets of the EU capital, representatives of the Maine Farmers Association, that's Copa Cochega, actually had a sit-down meeting with the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and also the EU Council President, Antonio Costa.
10:14And during the summit, our Europe Today's Ida Sanchez actually had the opportunity to go and visit and speak to those farmers and take a listen to their concerns.
10:22You can take a look.
10:30What we want is to be able to live off our work.
10:34We are against Mercosur because it is not right to import meat and products from foreign countries that do not comply with the same standards as we do.
10:42We have a lot of standards to comply with, and I cannot accept the idea that we will end up importing their products which are not subject to the same rules.
10:51And that was one farmer that came all the way from Bourgogne in France.
10:55And for more on what looks like a pretty big failure for Brussels, having to postpone this big historic deal, let's go straight now over to the EU Council and bring in your news correspondent.
11:05That's Shona Murray, who hasn't slept all night either and is actually shown in the very same outfit that you were wearing this time yesterday here on Europe Today.
11:13So thank you so much for being with us here, Shona, on the show.
11:17Look, tell us, is this a big failure, the fact that it had to be postponed?
11:21We know Ursula von der Leyen, she was actually meant to get on a plane today or tomorrow to actually travel to Brazil to sign this deal.
11:27And now it's all postponed.
11:31That's right.
11:31It will be a big failure if they don't sign the deal in January, because that's how long it's postponed for.
11:36And remember, the EU is really trying to reaffirm its position as a giant, really, of trade all across the globe.
11:44So Mercosur is a really strong part of that, notwithstanding the concerns that the farmers obviously have.
11:49So what happened was Mercosur was supposed to have a vote.
11:52It was supposed to be a vote on it by member states this week, potentially on Wednesday, then even possibly today.
11:57But at the behest of Italian Prime Minister, Giorgio Malone, that has been postponed for three weeks.
12:03Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, was supposed to travel to Brazil tomorrow to sign off on that deal.
12:09That deal has been in negotiation for 26 years.
12:12And the EU said last night, OK, you know, what's another three weeks?
12:16But actually, it doesn't look great, because remember, there's no guarantees that the Italians will definitely sign up to that.
12:22The reason why there was a postponement is because Giorgio Malone said she wanted more time to talk to Italian farmers about some of the safeguard clauses that were agreed with the European Parliament on Wednesday,
12:33which was supposed to really support the EU's agricultural industry.
12:38So we're not too sure if they're definitely going to support that.
12:40So there could be a failure. But right now, the EU is saying, hold tight, we'll get this across the line.
12:45Certainly, it was Giorgio Malone who held the keys, of course, to this deal.
12:50Sean, I guess all our viewers are wondering what happens next.
12:53Could a delay actually be the final nail in the coffin for Mercosur?
13:00Well, look, I think what we've been discussing all week, really, around Mercosur is the numbers.
13:05Obviously, Italy is one of the bigger member states.
13:07It's obviously a heavy agricultural state.
13:10So it's a deciding vote on qualified majority is really substantial.
13:14But then you have other countries like Germany, for example, who've been really pushing Mercosur.
13:18And we heard earlier from Maria Tadeo saying this summit wasn't great for Germany.
13:22They're quite annoyed at this postponement, although Friedrich Mertz, the German chancellor,
13:26was trying to bat that away and say, no, we'll get a deal done in January.
13:30And some German sources I've spoken to have said that.
13:33And as I mentioned, this Mercosur deal, as big as it is, is actually even bigger than the sum of its parts,
13:39because the EU has had to see itself shift away from its traditional alliance of trade with the United States
13:45because of the tariff wars and move into other areas of the world or the 83 percent of the world.
13:51And Mercosur is really a key part of that.
13:54If they fail after 26 years of negotiations, who will want to do a deal, a trade deal with Europe?
14:00And remember, Europe really prides itself on being a reliable partner.
14:04How reliable can you be if you can't even get a vote across the line?
14:08And the president of the European Commission can't even make it to Brazil to meet with President Lula
14:13to sign off on that agreement.
14:15Maeve?
14:16Shona Marie, thank you so much for that live update from the EU summit
14:19and also to all the Euronews team of reporters who are up all night reporting for our live blog.
14:24Do visit Euronews.com to read more about what all these decisions taken at the EU summit mean for you.
14:29That brings this edition of Europe Today to an End, our special summit edition.
14:33Thank you so much for joining us.
14:34Take care and we'll see you very soon on Euronews.
14:38Thank you so much for joining us.
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