At the EU summit on October 1, no progress was made on granting Ukraine a loan of 140 billion euros from frozen Russian assets. The reasons for this decision are written by The Financial Times.
The proposal received the main opposition from three countries. Belgium refused to withdraw its earlier objection, while France and Luxembourg expressed concerns about the legal consequences.
Following the discussion, EU leaders concluded that, while they were ready to accept the general principle, the commission needed to further investigate the legal and fiscal implications.
This outcome of the Copenhagen meeting means that it is very unlikely that the commission will present a formal legal proposal to EU leaders when they meet again in Brussels in three weeks.
Belgium, whose state treasury benefited from tax revenues from Russian assets held at the local financial institution Euroclear, is now demanding that the European Union “mutually” share risks and provide legal protection if Moscow takes legal action against the country.
Luxembourg, represented by its prime minister, stated that "you can't just take something that belongs to another state" and expressed concern about the possibility that Russia would not repay the debt.
Nevertheless, there is agreement among the summit participants to continue working on this issue. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted, interested countries “need to work out the full proposal in much more detail.”
Separately, G7 finance ministers agreed that they would “coordinatedly use the full value of Russian sovereign assets immobilized in their jurisdictions to end the war and secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
