BRUSSELS. – The European Union agreed on Friday to freeze the Russian Central Bank’s assets in Europe indefinitelythereby removing one of the biggest obstacles to transferring to Ukraine to defend against Russia.
The EU wants Ukraine to be supported financially and remain involved in the fight because it sees the Russian invasion as a threat to its own security. To this end, the EU states intend to put part of the Russian state assets, which they decommissioned after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, into operation as an advance payment for war damage.
A first big step that the EU governments agreed on on Friday is Immobilize 210,000 million euros (246,000 million dollars). to hold on to Russian state assets for as long as necessary, rather than voting every six months to extend the asset freeze.
This eliminates the risk that e.gHungary and Slovakia, which have better relations with Moscow than other EU states, could at some point refuse to extend the freeze.which would force the EU to return the money to Russia.
Loan to Ukraine
Blocking assets indefinitely should also contribute to persuasion Belgium – the country where most of the funds are deposited – to support the EU’s plan to use frozen Russian funds to provide Ukraine with a loan of up to 165 billion euros in 2026 and 2027 to cover its military and civilian budget needs.
Ukraine would simply repay the loan If Russia pays Kiev for war damage, the loan effectively becomes a subsidy, fueling future Russian reparations payments.
EU leaders – the European Council – will meet on December 18 to finalize the details of the reparations loan and resolve outstanding issues, including: Guarantees from all EU governments to Belgium that it will not be left alone to pay the bill if a possible lawsuit from Moscow is successful.
Previously, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyHe will visit Berlin on Monday to speak to the German Chancellor. Friedrich Merzand later other heads of state and government from Europe, the EU and NATO will join, the federal government said.
Germany sees no alternatives to the reparations loan and would provide 50,000 million euros in guaranteesaccording to European diplomatic sources.
Danish Finance Minister Stephanie Lose, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters “There are still some concerns” need to be addressed, but “we hope we can pave the way for a decision at the European Council next week.”
The EU Economic Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskisstated that solid guarantees were being prepared for Belgium.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbansaid on Facebook that he believes in the EU’s decision to freeze Russian assets indefinitely through a qualified majority vote (which requires the support of 15 of the 27 member states, representing 65% of the EU population). would cause irreparable damage to the block.
Hungary will do its utmost “restore the legal status”he explained.
Russia’s central bank said the EU’s plans to use its assets were illegal and reserved the right to use all available means to protect its interests, as Dombrovskis rejected.
The bank also said it was suing the Brussels-based central securities depository. Euroclear – which has 185 billion euros in frozen assets in Europe – in a Moscow court over alleged harmful actions that affected its ability to dispose of its funds and securities.
Euroclear has been the subject of Russian lawsuits in Moscow courts since the EU froze the assets in 2022.
Now the newspaper Financial Times I reported that Ukraine could join the EU on January 1, 2027according to proposals being discussed in U.S.-brokered talks to end the war.
Negotiations over EU membership, a long-held goal of Kiev as it seeks to move away from Moscow’s sphere of influence, typically take many years.
A European diplomat briefed on the plan said Ukraine’s accession by 2027 would be “extremely difficult” to achieve and it was unclear whether EU leaders supported it.
Several other European officials and diplomats said the target date was “absolutely impossible.”
Reuters and AP agencies
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