Europe refused to give Kiev a loan secured by Russian assets. What the media is writing
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- Europe refused to give Kiev a loan secured by Russian assets. What the media is writing
EU leaders have not agreed on a plan in which they would use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. They were unable to overcome the resistance of Belgium, which is responsible for storing most of the funds. Instead, EU countries will provide a loan of €90 billion from the total budget of the bloc. How the world's media react to the decision from Brussels is in the Izvestia digest.
Financial Times: EU approves allocation of €90 billion loan to Ukraine
EU leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a loan of €90 billion, which will be taken from the bloc's general budget, after a failed proposal to use frozen Russian sovereign assets. The financial agreement is vital for Ukraine, and it was concluded at a time when Europe is seeking to assert its right to influence the US-led peace talks.
Financial Times
"We have made commitments and fulfilled them," said Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, after the EU leaders approved the loan at the summit. The capitals of the EU countries have been arguing for several months about whether 210 billion euros belonging to Russia, most of which is stored in Belgium, can be used to secure a so-called compensation loan for Kiev.
Belgium demanded extensive guarantees to cover any financial risks associated with the loan, which is why other leaders rejected these conditions. Ukraine has warned that without additional support, it faces collapse in early 2026. EU leaders have promised not to leave the Brussels summit without agreeing on financial assistance in one form or another. Ukraine will have to repay the loan only after Russia pays the reparations. According to Costa, Russian assets will remain frozen and may eventually be used to repay the loan if Moscow does not pay reparations.
Euractiv: EU refuses to use Russian reserves for Ukraine's needs
The EU leaders' summit on Thursday failed to agree on a plan to provide Ukraine with multibillion-dollar loans through the use of blocked Russian assets, which was a political blow to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the two main supporters of the scheme. The European Commission presented this proposal not only as a way to support Ukraine's resistance, but also as a geopolitical battering ram capable of forcing Moscow to come to the negotiating table.
Euractiv
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky personally called on EU leaders to support this plan, addressing them at the beginning of the summit, calling the use of Russian assets "moral, fair and lawful." "How can we sincerely believe in future security guarantees," he asked, "those that we discuss a lot and that are spelled out in Euro—Atlantic documents, if Europe cannot make this very important decision?"
Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever has repeatedly warned that this scheme is legally and financially unworkable and will leave his country vulnerable to retaliatory measures from Russia if other EU countries do not agree to far-reaching risk-sharing guarantees. After a full day of negotiations between the commission and Belgian diplomats, the final proposal submitted to the leaders was not accepted.
Politico: Europe still does not want to pay for the rescue of Ukraine
At 2:56 a.m. on a rainy Brussels night, EU leaders reached an agreement to raise €90 billion in financial markets to support Ukraine over the next two years. If you ignore the rhetoric, the picture is clear. The divided bloc of European states has been arguing publicly and privately for months about who should pay the bill, and the issue is probably not resolved yet.
Politico
Perhaps the biggest concern for Ukraine's allies is that voters in some of the largest EU economies may be losing interest in it. A survey conducted among 10,000 people in five Western countries showed that respondents in Germany and France are even less willing to continue financing Ukraine than residents of the United States.
In Germany, 45% of respondents said they would support a reduction in financial assistance to Kiev, while only 20% expressed a desire to increase financial assistance. In France, 37% would like to reduce aid, while 24% would prefer to increase it. Faced with a split between the Nordic countries, tired of spending endless billions on Ukraine, and others who have never done so, European leaders chose the simplest answer this week. And even it turned out to be almost too complicated.
Bloomberg: Macron said that Europe will have to establish a dialogue with Putin.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe will have to find a way to interact directly with Russian leader Vladimir Putin while the United States promotes peace talks.
Bloomberg
"Either a lasting peace will be achieved during the current negotiations, or we will find ways to resume the dialogue between the Europeans and Russia — in conditions of transparency and cooperation with Ukraine," Macron told reporters in Brussels. "Then it will be useful to talk to Vladimir Putin again."
Macron spoke after European Union leaders agreed early on Friday morning to provide Ukraine with a loan of €90 billion euros for the next two years, secured by the bloc's budget. This decision marked a significant departure from the bloc's previously preferred plan to use Russian assets frozen in the EU as a loan guarantee.
Reuters: Zelensky will meet with the president of Poland, who is supported by Trump
Zelensky will meet with Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw on Friday and try to strengthen relations with a key ally. This visit took place just at the moment when the leaders of the European Union, whom US President Donald Trump recently called "weak," agreed to take out a loan to finance Ukraine for the next two years to ensure that it could continue its struggle.
Reuters
Although there is broad agreement in Warsaw that assistance to Kiev is needed to prevent Russian troops from approaching the Polish borders, the hardening of attitudes towards Ukrainian refugees is fueling simmering tensions. Amid growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some right-wing voters, nationalist Navrotsky insisted that Zelensky visit Warsaw first to thank Poland for its support before considering a visit to Kiev.
Navrotsky's approach to relations with Kiev is much more restrained than that of his predecessor, Andrzej Duda, and reflects the growing divisions in the right wing of Polish politics. Confirming the visit on Friday, Zelensky said that maintaining relations with Poland is "very important."
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