EU leaders to vote on plan to loan Kyiv $105B of frozen Russia assets

by · UPI

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- European Union leaders, gathered for a crucial summit in Brussels on Thursday on whether the bloc should divert frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, were told it was a choice between "money today or blood tomorrow."

The warning from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made it clear he believed failure to hold the line in Ukraine would lead to European blood being spilt in the future.

"We have a simple choice: either money today, or blood tomorrow. I'm not talking about Ukraine only, I'm talking about Europe," Tusk told reporters as he arrived at the European Council meeting.

"This is our decision to make and only ours. I think all European leaders have to finally rise to this occasion," he added.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also joined the meeting of all 27 EU member countries, where he was given a pride-of-place seat next to council president Antonio Costa.

Tusk's comments came amid a growing list of EU states indicating their opposition to loaning some of the $246.7 billion of Russian assets frozen in European institutions to Ukraine, including Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Italy, and Belgium, where most of the funds are located.

The "reparations loan" option involving using frozen Russian assets requires a two-thirds majority of EU states to vote for it. A back-up proposal under which the EU would use its budget to borrow in the international debt markets appears even less viable as it could be blocked by a single state.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who last week admitted his opposition was due to Russian threats against Belgium and him personally, told the Belgian parliament Thursday that none of the proposals pitched by European partners thus far were sufficient to convince him otherwise.

He said he wanted guarantees that other EU states would share the risks Belgium could be exposed to, including legal and financial consequences.

"We need a parachute before we jump. If we are asked to jump, we all jump together," he said.

All but $29.3 billion of the frozen Russian assets are held by a single Belgian institution, the clearing house Euroclear, with fears mounting that Russia could take the government to court if it ordered the funds released.

Moscow is already suing Euroclear, with the Central Bank of Russia issuing legal proceedings against the Brussels-based company on Friday.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, who unveiled the funding proposals to keep Ukraine afloat through 2027 two weeks ago, said Belgium's concerns were "absolutely understandable."

"I totally support Belgium that they're insisting on having their worries and concerns accommodated, and we're working day and night with Belgium."

However, after thanking Wever for his "engagement," she vowed the meeting would not be adjourned until agreement was reached. That prompted Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico to quip that he would not support the plan even if he had to stay there until the New Year.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who attempted to have the plan to loan Ukraine $105.5 billion over the next two years removed from the summit agenda, said Europe should not take sides and that it would be dragged into the war.

"The whole idea is stupid. There are two countries which are at war -- it's not European Union, [it's] Russia and Ukraine -- and the European Union would like to take away the money of one of the warring party and then to give it to another one.

"It's marching into the war. The Belgian prime minister is right, we should not do that," he warned.

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