Overview
- Leaders convene in Brussels with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance, and the outcome on the asset-backed funding plan remains unresolved after pledges to negotiate until a decision is reached.
- The European Commission plan would leverage about €210 billion in immobilised Russian central bank assets to back an EU loan that provides roughly €90 billion to Ukraine over two years, repayable only if Russia pays reparations.
- Belgium objects because Euroclear in Brussels holds most of the assets and Russia has launched legal action against the clearing house, prompting demands from Brussels for legally binding, unlimited risk-sharing guarantees.
- A broad group including Germany, Poland and Ireland backs the plan, while Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Malta and Czechia voice objections; using qualified majority voting is possible but seen as politically fraught, and an EU borrowing fallback is blocked by Hungary.
- EU officials cite urgency as Ukraine faces an estimated €135 billion funding need over two years and a cash crunch starting in April, while Kyiv says the US administration is pressuring Europeans to drop the assets plan and EU institutions have locked sanctions to secure the funds.