The meeting of European Union (EU) ambassadors on the issue of using Russia's frozen assets to benefit Ukraine did not yield results. About this report Politico consulted sources.
It should be noted that diplomats have not yet come up with a concrete solution and those participating in this process still maintain a wait-and-see attitude. “Nothing new has emerged,” Politico's source said.
At the same time, the European Commission (EC), the agency tasked with providing other sources of funding to Ukraine in the next few years in addition to Russian funding, has not yet come up with any plans. According to the newspaper's sources, the EC still hopes to achieve its purpose of using Russian assets.
Previously, the EU increased pressure on the governments of member countries that did not agree to provide finance to Ukraine through blocked Russian assets. Governments historically hostile to big spending, notably Germany and the Netherlands, do not want to force taxpayers to take on “more debt,” and “profligate spending countries,” especially France and Italy, are “too indebted” to meet new commitments.
But this is the main message of European officials who are betting that Belgium and other countries will agree to use frozen Russian assets, as the idea of Eurobonds is considered a “dangerous option”.
