According to Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk there is a fundamental agreement between the EU heads of state and governmentthat it would be justified to use Russian assets to finance Ukraine. But there are still many technical points to be clarified, said Tusk on the sidelines of the EU summit. Some countries would fight to the end to maximize guarantees against possible damage, he said.
Tusk emphasized that all EU states had agreed to use Russian assets to support Ukraine and that no one was questioning this fundamental decision again.
In the EU A total of around 210 billion euros in Russian assets are frozen, of which around 185 billion are at the Belgian financial platform Euroclear. Belgium fears that if the funds are released, it will become the target of lawsuits or other financial countermeasures from Russia.
No funding from the EU budget
That’s why, according to Tusk, there are still long negotiations ahead. Above all, the countries that could be particularly badly affected by possible Russian retaliation measures – above all Belgium –, demand clear protection mechanisms and guarantees before the EU summit.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz signaled that Germany is ready to support Belgium on this issue. The dpa news agency learned this from negotiating circles on the sidelines of the EU summit. In concrete terms, this means that assets of the Russian central bank that are frozen in Germany should also be used to finance Ukraine in order to spread the risks across several EU countries.
According to Tusk, financing from the EU budget, for example through financial leeway in the budget, meets with little support in many important EU states. Instead, talks are focused on a so-called reparations loan based on Russian assets. At the same time, Belgium and other affected countries should be assured that they will not be solely liable for possible risks in an emergency.
Ukraine is running out of money
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged people to hurry. The decision must be made “by the end of this year,” said Zelensky. The European partners are also informed about this.
The EU assumes that Ukraine will be short of around 135 billion euros over the next two years. Accordingly, the country is at risk of running out of money from April. The EU Commission has proposed granting Ukraine a loan of 90 billion euros using the more than 200 billion euros of frozen Russian central bank funds.
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