On Thursday around 9 p.m., shortly before turbot was served for dinner to the heads of state and government, one of the most important projects of the European Union at the moment ended in failure: using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. 27 politicians conducted many hours of negotiations at the Brussels summit, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement. The talks were interrupted, reports the German Business Insider.
“It was a complete surprise,” said an EU diplomat. “I have no idea what will happen next,” he added. One thing seems certain: if a solution is not found soon, Ukraine will face a financial disaster. The country will probably end up fighting Russian troops within a few months.
The European Commission wants to use Russian assets as security for an interest-free loan to Ukraine in the amount of EUR 140 billion. Calculations indicate that the country could use these funds to purchase large numbers of drones, missiles and grenades over the next two to three years.
Belgium, where mainly Russian assets are frozen, is still afraid of the legal and financial consequences of such a decision, e.g. lawsuits from Russia. Therefore, it wants the risk to be spread also among other Member States.
At the summit in Brussels, the head of the Belgian government, Bart De Wever, agreed to the provisions in the conclusions, according to which the European Commission was obliged to present a proposal for a solution to be discussed at the next EU summit, which will be held in December.
See also: “Leap of the century” at the Louvre. A fortune's worth of jewelry was stolen in seven minutes [WIDEO]
This plan is a kind of last hope for Kiev – because all other ideas for help from Europeans seem too risky. Support from national budgets would overwhelm already heavily indebted European countries such as France and Italy, Germany's Business Insider reported.
What was decided at the EU summit
Not all information from Thursday's summit was unfavorable for Ukraine. In this text, we describe in detail the decisions that were made then. The EU assured that financial assistance to Ukraine will be maintained not only next year, but also in 2027. “This is an important decision. We have obtained political support on the frozen Russian assets and their use to defend against Russian aggression. The European Commission will develop all the necessary details,” Zelensky wrote.
He also expressed satisfaction with the EU's approval of the 19th package of sanctions against Russia. “The 19th EU sanctions package has finally been approved, thank you for that… It is also important that it is supported by sanctions from other European countries outside the EU, especially the UK, Norway and Switzerland…Russia must feel real losses as a result of its war. The US decision to sanction Russian oil companies is also very effective, it is important that all of Europe supports the policy limiting supplies from Russia,” said the Ukrainian president.
