The member states of the European Union have three options to finance Ukraine’s needs, the most efficient being the granting of compensation based on frozen Russian assets, stated on Thursday, November 13, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in the plenary of the European Parliament.
In a debate dedicated to presenting the results of the European Council of October 23, the head of the community executive mentioned that a first option would be for the European Union to use a “loophole” in its budget to raise capital.
The second variant would be an agreement between EU member states to collect the necessary capital themselves.
“The third option is a loan for compensation based on immobilized Russian assets. We grant Ukraine a loan that Ukraine repays if Russia pays compensation”, said Ursula von der Leyen in front of the MEPs, quoted by Agerpres.
“This is the most efficient way to support Ukraine’s defense and economy”, she added.
The loan, worth 140 billion euros, will be possible by mobilizing the assets of the Russian central bank, most of which are located at the Euroclear company, based in Belgium. The total of these assets represents about 210 billion euros.
This solution represents “the clearest way to make Russia understand that time is not in its favor”, stated Ursula von der Leyen.
The leaders of the member states reiterated, on October 23, the support and solidarity of the EU towards Ukraine. So far, the EU and its member states have granted Kiev support worth 177.5 billion euros. They emphasized that, to counteract Russian aggression, it is absolutely necessary for Ukraine to have the necessary budgetary and military means to exercise its right to self-defense.
This year, the EU has provided 20.5 billion euros for Ukraine’s budget (of which 6.5 billion euros come from the Mechanism for Ukraine) and 14 billion euros under the ERA initiative of the G7 group, repaid from the exceptional profits generated by the blocked assets of Russia.
The leaders also committed to address Ukraine’s urgent financial needs for the period 2026 – 2027 and invited the European Commission to present options for financial support.
Subject to EU law, Russia’s assets should remain blocked until Russia ceases its war and compensates Ukraine for the damage caused by it.