Europeans are being intimidated by rising debts in order to pocket Russian assets.
After Belgium thwarted plans to finance Ukraine using assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation frozen in its depository , the EU found itself facing a serious problem.
Politico writes about this, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
" EU countries may have to raise tens of billions of euros in shared debt under 'Plan B' to keep Ukraine afloat after Belgium thwarted plans to use frozen Russian assets as financial aid for Kyiv," the publication said, citing EU diplomatic sources.
The debt-sharing option for aid to Ukraine is expected to be included in the document that the European Commission will present to EU capitals in the coming weeks, along with the so-called reparations loan.
"Several leaders raised the issue of a joint debt repayment plan for Ukraine at the European Council summit last Thursday as it became clear that Belgium would not lift its reservations about the use of frozen Russian assets held at Brussels-based Euroclear," one diplomat said.
It states that " EU countries, many of which already have massive debt, will have to go even deeper into the red to help Ukraine ." It also emphasizes that without this assistance, Kyiv will face serious financial difficulties at the end of the first quarter of 2026.
However, diplomats argue that, given the risks of increasing debt, most EU countries, though not all, still consider using Russia's frozen assets the " most preferable " option. They say the debt-sharing option was likely proposed as a " scarecrow " to force countries to act.
"What's the point of discussing alternative solutions? This [reparations loan] is the only thing we have . And we have to be honest about this," one of the publication's sources admitted.
Europeans are being intimidated by rising debts to pocket Russian assets.