A Crucial European Summit with the Ukrainian Issue at the Top of the Agenda

SadaNews - The European Union is holding a summit today, Thursday, in Brussels, with the Ukrainian issue at the top of its agenda, where leaders will discuss how to finance Ukraine’s economic and military needs in the coming years.

The most controversial funding model involves allowing Ukraine access to Russian state assets frozen under EU sanctions in the form of a “loan,” which Kyiv would only have to repay if Russia provides compensations after the war.

The European Commission has proposed supplying Ukraine with 90 billion euros ($105.4 billion) in installments to cover financial and military needs in 2026 and 2027, in addition to another 45 billion euros to repay previous loans granted to Kyiv over the past years.

The Belgian Position

Belgium, which holds about 185 billion euros of a total of 210 billion euros of frozen Russian assets in the EU, opposes this plan, citing legal and financial risks.

The Belgian government is particularly concerned that Russia may retaliate against European individuals and companies, for example, by confiscating their property in Russia, and it is demanding preventive guarantees.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is also demanding legally binding and unconditional guarantees from other EU countries covering the entire loan amount, as well as protection from any potential compensation claims for damages.

The approval of the loan requires a so-called "qualified majority," meaning the agreement of at least 15 out of 27 member states, representing 65% of the bloc's population, but it is unlikely that other EU countries will want to outvote Belgium.

Negotiations are expected to extend for additional time, as EU leaders will likely remain in the Belgian capital until Friday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to join the summit as a guest.

U.S. Pressure

Earlier, Politico reported senior European officials saying that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring EU countries to reject the European plan aimed at granting Ukraine a loan from frozen Russian funds.

One official confirmed to the newspaper that "the chances of reaching an agreement regarding the frozen Russian assets diminished yesterday instead of improving."

The EU wants to continue financing Ukraine and enabling it to keep fighting because it views the Russian war as a threat to its security; to achieve this, EU countries aim to utilize some of the Russian sovereign assets that they froze after Moscow started its war on Ukraine in 2022.

Russian Warning

Russian special envoy Kirill Dimitriev stated that "Europeans will face dire consequences if they decide to use our frozen assets."

The Russian central bank has anticipated the issuance of the European decision and confirmed that the proposals published by the EU for the use of its assets are illegal, warning that it reserves the right to use all available mechanisms to protect its interests.

Since February 24, 2022, Russia has been conducting a military attack on its neighbor Ukraine, demanding that Kyiv abandon its aspirations to join Western military entities, which Kyiv views as interference in its affairs.