Belgium blocks EU's funding plan for Ukraine – Politico

As a result, EU leaders will be compelled to revisit the issue of financial support for Kyiv in December — unless an extraordinary meeting is convened earlier.

“It’s a mess. This was not how it was meant to play out,” one of the diplomats admitted.

Belgium’s unexpected position came as a surprise to diplomats, ministers, and senior EU officials. Any direct references to the use of frozen Russian assets to finance the reparations loan for Ukraine were removed from the meeting’s final documents, as were proposals to address Belgium’s reservations.

European Council President António Costa stressed that it was too early to speak of the initiative’s failure. At the same time, none of the European leaders could name specific timelines for when the EU would decide on using Russian state assets to support Kyiv.

Before the talks reached an impasse, Ukraine’s allies were in high spirits. The EU had approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, targeting the Kremlin’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, the banking system, and the energy sector.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump for the first time imposed sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies, earning positive reactions from European partners.

“It’s been a week of ups and downs but at the moment we are in a pretty good place,” one of the advisers said at the start of the summit on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that the initiative to use frozen assets to create a loan for Kyiv had not been rejected.

“It hasn’t been buried, we were able to discuss technical details. We need to progress with method, because we can’t do anything that breaks international law,” the French president said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for calm and assured that the EU would remain a reliable ally of Ukraine.

“After our sanctions, and Trump’s sanctions, the reparations loan should have made this a really good day. But it’s an opportunity we’ve missed,” one of the diplomats noted.

Background

Earlier, the EU postponed its decision on using frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine until December.

It was not critical for Ukraine, as its financing needs for 2025 are covered.

EU leaders reaffirmed their intention to support Ukraine for as long as necessary. Ukraine will have the financial resources it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression.