The EU’s top diplomat has warned it looks “increasingly difficult” to secure agreement among European leaders over a vital loan for Ukraine. Kyiv is fast running out of money and is desperately in need of an injection of cash to keep the country afloat and its army equipped with weapons.
Leaders from European states have been discussing a plan to give Kyiv a reparations loan financed by frozen Russian assets totalling €210billion. Most of that money (€185bn) is held in Belgium at Euroclear – a central securities depository in Brussels. The plan has met fierce resistance from Belgium’s prime minister Bart De Wever, who is demanding cast-iron guarantees of protection from Brussels from any Russian retaliation.
EU leaders will attend a crunch European Council summit on Thursday to discuss the reparations loan.
