Russia: Europe's Decision Not to Use Our Assets to Finance Kyiv is a Victory for Law

SadaNews - The Special Envoy of the Russian President for Investment and Economic Cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, stated on Friday that "law and reason have triumphed," after EU leaders decided to borrow money to finance Ukraine instead of utilizing frozen Russian assets.

Dmitriev wrote on the "X" platform, referring to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen: "A major blow to war advocates in the EU led by the failed Ursula - the voices of reason in the EU prevented the illegal use of Russian reserves to finance Ukraine."

This comes after EU leaders reached an agreement to provide a €90 billion loan to Ukraine to cover the expected deficit in its budget, but failed to find a settlement for using frozen Russian assets to provide financing.

After diligent attempts to find a solution, European leaders settled on the idea of providing a loan supported by the bloc's shared budget to finance Ukraine over the next two years.

In turn, the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, who chaired the summit, stated that this decision will provide Kyiv with the necessary means to defend itself and support the Ukrainian people.

This agreement, reached in the early hours of Friday during the summit discussions in Brussels, represents a lifeline for Kyiv at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a quick agreement to end the war that has been ongoing for nearly four years, according to AFP.

The initial proposal was to utilize about €200 billion of frozen assets from the Russian central bank in the EU to secure a loan for Kyiv.

However, this plan collapsed after Belgium, where the vast majority of the assets are held, demanded guarantees concerning the shared responsibility for the use of the assets.

Using the common debt requires a unanimous decision from the 27 member states of the bloc, but skeptical countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were granted exemptions from the obligation to avoid obstructing progress.

It should be noted that while Kyiv may feel disappointed that the EU did not take the step of using Russian assets, securing financing in another way is a relief.

The EU estimates that Ukraine requires an additional €135 billion over the next two years, with expectations that a liquidity crisis will begin in April.