EU Ambassadors to review plan on using frozen Russian assets for loan to Ukraine on Dec 3 – media

EU member states’ ambassadors will soon examine for the first time the European Commission’s plan to provide a "reparations loan" to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, the Euractiv portal reported on Tuesday.

"EU ambassadors could review the EU’s proposal for issuing a ‘reparations loan’ to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets for the first time as early as Wednesday," the portal writes, citing sources.

The publication notes that this step came as a result of pressure on the European Commission from French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

In turn, European Council President António Costa privately warned EU country leaders that the upcoming EU summit on December 18 could be prolonged. "He told the leaders that they should be prepared to stay in Brussels for one, two, or even three days," the portal reports.

It is expected that EU leaders at the Brussels summit on December 18 will discuss the issue of financing Ukraine.

Earlier reports indicated that the European Commission is considering using approximately EUR 170 billion in frozen Russian assets, currently held in the Euroclear financial depository in Brussels. It was planned that EUR 140 billion of these funds would go toward a ‘reparations loan’ to Ukraine. However, Belgium opposed this decision, expressing concerns about its legal and financial consequences. Previously, the country’s Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, demanded additional legally binding guarantees from EU countries in case the decision is implemented.