https://www.npr.org/2025/12/19/g-s1-102967/eu-leaders-agree-on-ukraine-loanEuropean Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide a massive interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.After almost four years of war, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Ukraine will need 137 billion euros ($161 billion) in 2026 and 2027. The government in Kyiv is on the verge of bankruptcy, and desperately needs the money by spring.The plan had been to use some of the 210 billion euros ($246 billion) worth of Russian assets that are frozen in Europe, mostly in Belgium.The leaders worked deep into Thursday night to reassure Belgium that they would protect it from any Russian retaliation if it backed the "reparations loan" plan but in the end the leaders did not use that option, but as the talks bogged down the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets."We have a deal. Decision to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered," EU Council President António Costa said in a post on social media.Not all countries agreed to the loan package. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refuse to support Ukraine and opposed it, but a deal was reached in which they did not block the package and were promised protection from any financial fallout.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Europea and describes himself as a peacemaker, said "I would not like a European Union in war.""To give money means war." said Orbán. He also described the rejected plan to use the frozen Russian assets as a "dead end."French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal was a major advance, saying that borrowing on capital markets "was the most realistic and practical way" to fund Ukraine and its war efforts.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also hailed the decision."The financial package for Ukraine has been finalized," Merz said in a statement, noting that "Ukraine is granted a zero-interest loan.""These funds are sufficient to cover the military and budgetary needs of Ukraine for the two years to come," Merz added. He said the frozen assets will remain blocked until Russia has paid war reparations to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that would cost over 600 billion euros ($700 billion)."If Russia does not pay reparations we will — in full accordance with international law — make use of Russian immobilized assets for paying back the loan," Merz said.Zelenskyy, who traveled to Brussels for a summit that took place during fiery protests by farmers angry about a proposed trade deal with five South American countries, had appealed for a quick decision to keep Ukraine afloat in the new year.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned early on Thursday that it would be a case of sending "either money today or blood tomorrow" to help Ukraine.
The plan to use frozen Russian assets got bogged down as Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever rejected the scheme as legally risky, and warned that it could harm the business of Euroclear, the Brussels-based financial clearing house where 193 billion euros ($226 billion) in frozen assets are held.Belgium was rattled last Friday when Russia's Central Bank launched a lawsuit against Euroclear to prevent any loan being provided to Ukraine using its money, which is frozen under EU sanctions slapped on Moscow after its launched its full-scale war in 2022."For me, the reparations loan was not a good idea," De Wever told reporters after the meeting. "When we explained the text again, there were so many questions that I said, I told you so, I told you so. There are a lot of loose ends. And if you start pulling at the loose ends in the strings, the thing collapses.""We avoided stepping into a precedent that risks undermining legal certainty worldwide. We safeguarded the principle that Europe respects law, even when it is hard, even when we are under pressure," he said, adding that the EU "delivered a strong political signal. Europe stands behind Ukraine."Still, Costa said that the EU "reserves its right to make use of the immobilized assets to repay this loan."
>>1467232>but without relying on frozen Russian assetsThe EU can always tap into those. Make Putin & his kleptocrat buddies seethe.
I don't understand this. Either stop being pussies and give all of the frozen money or tell Ukraine to surrender. This lame fence sitting is why the war has lasted so long
>>1467246The problem is Belgium not wanting to violate certain loan guarantees, fearing reprisals. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/business/eu-russia-frozen-assets-ukraine-wwk-intl> Euroclear, a securities depository in Belgium, holds most of the Russian assets immobilized in the EU. Estimates of the amount in the country vary – in September, the European Parliament put it at €180 billion ($211 billion). An estimated €176 billion of that has now turned into cash.>The Belgian government has raised a number of concerns about the reparations loan. A key one is that Russia will view it as an illegal repurposing of its sovereign assets.
>>1467246>This lame fence sitting is why the war has lasted so longIt os also why Putin felt comfortable enough to invade.
>>1467233>"I would not like a European Union in war."Tough shit, idiot. Putin's already probing the EU. If someone pulls a knife on you then you're in a knife fight whether you want to be or not.
>If someone pulls a knife on you then you're in a knife fight whether you want to be or not>Russian Tu-95 Bear & Tu-160 Blackjack bombers nearing UK airspaceAs with English Electric Lightnings decades ago and Eurofighter Typhoons now, Putin must be as scared of Britain's aircraft as Hitler ultimately was of Supermarine Spitfires & Hawker Hurricanes decades before.What's stopping that Fuhrer 2.0 ordering his bomber aircraft from just shooting down those pipsqueak bong planes?>RAF Lockheed F-35s>BAe TempestPutin's scared, or he would just invade UK, just as Hitler wanted to: Operation Sealion. There was nothing stopping both then & now>Royal Navy then>Queen Elizabeth-class carriers now>If someone pulls a knife on you then you're in a knife fight whether you want to be or not>Storm Shadow missiles given to UkraineA quote from the movie Crocodile Dundee springs to mind.
