Name: EU leaders urge swift decision on frozen Russian funds for Ukraine
Uploaded: 2025-12-18T18:13:33.307Z
Duration: 1 min 35 s
Description: EU leaders are split in Brussels over using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. Poland backs urgent action, while Belgium resists over legal and financial risks. Ukraine is pressing for a decision by year’s end.

EU leaders are split in Brussels over using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. Poland backs urgent action, while Belgium resists over legal and financial risks. Ukraine is pressing for a decision by year’s end.

Brussels

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

European Union leaders are facing internal divisions over whether and how to use approximately €210 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets to support Ukraine through a reparations loan. The majority of these assets are held at Belgium-based Euroclear, prompting the Belgian government to express concerns about the legal and financial implications of such a move.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has outlined three conditions for Belgium's participation, including the use of assets held in other countries and collective financial responsibility by the EU. Meanwhile, Ukraine's president has called for a decision on the reparations loan by the end of the year, as Russia's central bank has initiated legal action against Euroclear.

EU leaders urge swift decision on frozen Russian funds for Ukraine

Can the European Union reach an eleventh-hour compromise? With leaders deeply divided on whether and how to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, the Polish Prime Minister says it comes down to a simple choice. Either money today or blood tomorrow. And I'm not talking about Ukraine only, I'm talking about Europe. And this is our decision to make. And only ours. In a bid to help plug looming holes in Ukraine's budget, the EU has come up with a complex scheme to use some 210 billion euros of Russian central bank assets to generate a reparations loan for Kiev. The bulk of these funds are in the Belgium-based financial clearinghouse Euroclear. The Belgian government is worried about the move's potential legal and financial risks. On Thursday, Prime Minister Bart De Wever reiterated three conditions he's asking of his European counterparts, including that assets held in other countries are also used, and that the bloc, not Belgium alone, assume full financial responsibility for the risk. I would say that the first two conditions are like a parachute. We need a parachute before we jump. The third condition is that if we are asked to jump, we all jump together. Just last week, Russia's central bank sued Euroclear, which is being interpreted as a warning shot. Speaking in Brussels, the Ukrainian president said he needed the EU to decide on the reparations loan by the end of the year.

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EU leaders urge swift decision on frozen Russian funds for Ukraine

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