EU agrees to €90B Ukraine loan — but assets plan fails – POLITICO

But in the end, the urgency of Ukraine’s financing needs and the desperation of EU leaders to show their support as Donald Trump wavers and Putin talks up victory, won the day.

In a concession to Germany, leaders opened the door to using the frozen Russian assets to repay the loan to Ukraine. But this is something to be worked out in the future.

De Wever’s tactics

With Belgium railing against the plan to use Russian assets to fund the loan since it was first presented, EU diplomats and financial experts spent many sleepless nights in the run-up to the summit finessing legal language and offering extra financial buffers to reassure De Wever.

The stakes were as high as they get for the Belgian prime minister given that the bulk of Russia’s immobilized assets in Europe are held by the financial firm Euroclear, which happens to be registered in Belgium.

De Wever repeatedly asked that in return for backing this plan, EU countries needed to stump up unlimited amounts of cash to protect Belgium in the unlikely event that the Kremlin clawed back the money.

However, that was too big an ask even for the most ardent supporters of the Russian assets idea, who dismissed the Belgian offer as nothing short of a “blank check.”