EU chief Ursula von der Leyen insisted on Thursday that using frozen Russian assets to fund a new loan was the “most effective way” to finance Ukraine, as she laid out other options after opposition from Belgium. The 27-nation bloc is scrambling for funds to help Kyiv plug looming budget black holes as Russia’s war drags on towards a fourth year.
Von der Leyen’s executive has put forward a plan to use Russian central bank assets immobilized in Belgium to generate a 140-billion-euro “reparations loan” for Ukraine. But that has so far faced opposition from the Belgian government, which fears it could face legal reprisals from Moscow.
Von der Leyen remained adamant the frozen assets plan — under which the EU “gives a loan to Ukraine, that Ukraine pays back if Russia pays reparations” — remains the best choice. “This is the most effective way to sustain Ukraine’s defense and its economy. And the clearest way to make Russia understand that time is not on its side,” the European Commission president said. (AFP)
