European Council President Antonio Costa expressed his expectation that the EU will adopt a decision in December to use frozen Russian assets for a reparations loan for Ukraine, BTA reported.
By then, the technical and legal aspects must be finalized, he specified at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the end of the meeting of heads of state and government of the EU countries in Brussels.
We agreed to have such a loan, it remains to determine what the best path to the goal is, added Von der Leyen. According to her, there may be other ways to provide financial support to Ukraine without using frozen Russian assets. She indicated that the EC will prepare various proposals on how to secure a loan. In any case, we will comply with European and international law, she specified. Von der Leyen welcomed the simultaneous announcement of sanctions against Russia by the EU and the US in the last hours.
Ukraine's financial needs will be covered in the next two years, noted Costa. He expressed hope that negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon take place. Europe will not abandon Ukraine, Costa pointed out.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the good results regarding frozen Russian assets achieved at the summit in Brussels, reported Agence France-Presse.
“We have achieved political support regarding frozen Russian assets“, Zelensky said in “Ex“.
Shortly before that, European Council President Antonio Costa expressed his expectation that the EU would adopt a decision in December to use frozen Russian assets for a reparations loan for Ukraine. By then, the technical and legal aspects must be finalized, he said at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the end of the meeting of EU heads of state and government in Brussels.
Ukraine's financial needs will be covered in the next two years, Costa noted. He expressed hope for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon. Europe will not abandon Ukraine, Costa said.
Previously, European diplomats said that the consideration of other ways to provide financial support to Ukraine was the result of objections formulated by Belgium regarding the use of frozen Russian assets, Agence France-Presse and DPA recall.
The US sanctions against Moscow are a real turning point, French President Emmanuel Macron said, Agence France-Presse reported.
According to him, the sanctions announced by US President Donald Trump against two Russian oil companies are going in the right direction and will deal a massive blow to the financing of Russia's war in Ukraine.
"This is a real turning point which, combined with the sanctions (European, ed.) that we have just imposed and with the pressure that has been exerted on a number of other actors, will yield results," Macron said at a press conference after the European Council meeting in Brussels.
“This is a massive blow to the financing of Russia's military operations, and for the first time since the conflict began, the Russian economy is starting to suffer much more“, he added.
At the same time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested that Rosneft“s German business would be exempted from U.S. sanctions imposed on the Russian oil company, Reuters reported.
Rosneft“s German business is controlled by German authorities but is Russian-owned. It is a key supplier that transports and refines oil for gas stations and some airports in Europe's largest economy.
“We will discuss this with the Americans. I assume that Rosneft“ will receive ... an exception“, Merz said.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his country needed concrete and solid guarantees before backing a plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance a giant loan to Kiev. After a summit of EU leaders, De Wever called the plan “uncharted territory“, Reuters reported.
Belgium's position is critical because the assets in question are held by Belgian financial institution “Euroclear“. The Belgian government has warned that a possible seizure of the assets could expose “Euroclear“ to litigation and ultimately lead to a major financial crisis.
“Can this (plan) be legal? "That's a very good question... There are no clear answers," De Wever told reporters after attending an EU summit in Brussels, where it was one of the topics discussed by EU leaders.
“In any case, we will be inundated with litigation. That seems certain,” he added.
EU leaders failed to reach an agreement at the summit on how to deal with the frozen assets. The issue will be discussed in more detail at the next EU summit in December, Reuters notes.
According to DPA and Agence France-Presse, a step forward was taken on the subject yesterday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that European Union leaders had given the green light to finalize the trade agreement with the South American trading bloc Mercosur, but this was quickly denied by some of his colleagues, DPA reported.
“We voted on it, the Mercosur agreement can now enter into force“, Merz told reporters after the EU summit in Brussels.
However, European Council President Antonio Costa, who chaired the summit, said he had asked leaders to talk to their ambassadors to resolve technical problems with the translations of the texts. “But that's it. We have not discussed the issue. "We have not taken any decisions," he stressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron, a long-time sceptic about the trade deal, was also surprised by Merz's comments. "The work is ongoing," Macron said. He added that everything was going in the right direction and that the aim was still to reach an agreement.
Negotiations on the agreement between the EU and the four Mercosur countries - Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - had been ongoing since 1999. The European Commission concluded the negotiations in December last year, despite continued criticism from several EU countries, including France.
However, the recent customs dispute between the EU and the US has given new impetus to the agreement, which still needs to be approved by EU countries and the European Parliament.