White House Faces Growing Pressure After Latest Announcement
EU leaders face a €90B decision as pressure mounts to use frozen Russian assets for a Ukraine loan, despite Belgian resistance and legal risks.
- Calls are growing for the European Union to approve a massive loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets without the support of Belgium.
- EU leaders are under growing pressure to agree to a loan for Ukraine at a summit in the Belgian capital, as Ukraine is likely to run out of money in the spring without fresh funds.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said using Moscow’s assets was “the most appropriate” financing option so that “Russia understands that it will have to pay reparations” for destroying his country.
Calls are growing for the European Union to approve a massive loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets without the support of Belgium, where nearly all the assets are located.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday that she would be willing to vote through a plan for the loan without Belgium “if necessary” as a single member of the 27-nation EU “shouldn’t be able to block what is the right thing to do.”
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“With everything that is going on, Europe must be able to make the decisions necessary to protect our populations,” Frederiksen, whose country is holding the EU’s rotating presidency, told reporters in Brussels. “I would much prefer that we find a solution in unity, but the clock is ticking.”
Addressing the Belgian parliament on Thursday morning before a high-stakes summit of EU leaders, the Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever doubled down on his opposition to the plan, warning that using the assets may violate international law and weaken the euro on the international markets
He noted that Russia’s claim on the assets resting at the Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear remains, and there could be a need to pay back the assets at some point. De Wever repeated his call for other countries that house Russian assets need to assume their responsibility: “If we jump, we need to jump together.”
EU leaders are under growing pressure to agree to a €90 billion ($106 billion) loan for Ukraine at the make-or-break summit in Belgian capital after months of talks failed to break the deadlock over the contentious plan. Without fresh funds, Ukraine is likely to run out of the money in the spring.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said using Moscow’s assets was “the most appropriate” financing option so that “Russia understands that it will have to pay reparations” for destroying his country.
It would also strengthen Ukraine’s negotiating position, he said, as the US leans on Kyiv to make concessions in a potential peace deal.
“We need money so that Russia or anyone else cannot use it as leverage against us,” according to Zelenskiy, who talked with De Wever on Thursday. “We want this tool to support us. We feel more confident with this tool than without it.”
US President Donald Trump chose to cut funding to war-ravaged nation earlier this year, leaving other western allies, mainly in Europe, to carry the load of financing Kyiv as Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches its four-year mark.
“Now we have a simple choice, either money today or blood tomorrow,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters ahead of the summit. “And I’m not talking about Ukraine only, I’m talking about Europe.”
De Wever was expected to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday night in a last-ditch bid to get Belgian buy-in for the plan. Belgium, which has the support of several other member states, wants iron-clad assurances it won’t be left on the hook if Russia successfully sues to get the money back.
The European Commission has been trying to get agreement from EU countries for the plan for months. That effort passed a significant hurdle last week when EU countries approved extending an EU freeze on Russian assets using an emergency provision in the EU treaty known as Article 122 — a key step toward accessing the funds, though a final decision to tap the frozen Russian assets has yet to be taken.
Belgium is arguing that other options should be considered, including the possible use of joint debt. But privately EU officials say this would need unanimous agreement from all EU 27 countries, a non-starter politically.
Merz has been unequivocal that using the Russian assets was the only viable way forward. “In my view, that is indeed the only option,” he told reporters on Thursday. “Ultimately, we are faced with a choice: use European debt or Russian assets for Ukraine. And my opinion is clear: We must use Russian assets!”
Earlier this week, Merz said: “Let’s not kid ourselves: If we fail to do this, the EU’s ability to act will be severely damaged for years to come.”
Speaking on Wednesday evening in Brussels, Austrian Prime Minister Christian Stocker said he was confident that a financing solution for Ukraine would be found at the summit.
However, he cautioned that a solution would have to include Belgium. “It can’t and shouldn’t be decided without Belgium,” he said. “Whatever decision will have to include Belgium.”
Speaking to Bloomberg radio Thursday morning, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that the reparations loan for Ukraine was the only viable option. “It’s crucial. Putin is banking on us to fail, and we shouldn’t give him that.”
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