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BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU leaders on Thursday took a cautious first step toward using Russian frozen assets to provide a mammoth new loan for Ukraine — though marathon talks in Brussels failed to produce a clear green light.
The so-called “reparation loan” is seen as crucial to helping keep Kyiv in the fight against Moscow and making the Kremlin pay — but it is fraught with legal and political perils.
To get around them, the European Commission has floated a complex scheme it says could hand 140 billion euros ($162 billion) to Kyiv over the next few years.
Here’s what is at stake and how it could work:

What’s happened? 

The EU froze some 200 billion euros of Russian central bank assets after Moscow’s tanks rolled into Ukraine in 2022.
The vast majority are held in international deposit organization Euroclear, based in Belgium.
G7 countries have already used the interest of the frozen assets to fund a $50-billion loan for Ukraine.
But as Russia’s war drags on through a fourth year — and support dries up from Washington — Kyiv’s backers are now looking to go further to help plug its budget.

What’s the plan? 

While more hawkish countries in the EU have called to just seize the Russian assets outright, that is a red line for many others.
To get around that, the European Commission, the EU’s executive, has floated a financial switcheroo that it insists does not touch the Russian sovereign assets.
Instead, under the proposal the EU would borrow funds from Euroclear that have matured into cash.
That money would then in turn be loaned to Ukraine, on the understanding that Kyiv would only repay the loan if Russia coughs up for the damage it has wrought.
The scheme would be “fully guaranteed” by the EU’s 27 member states — who would have to ensure repayment themselves to Euroclear if they eventually decided Russia could reclaim the assets without paying reparations.

Belgian demands? 

Belgium has been the most vocal skeptic of a plan it fears could open up the country to costly legal challenges from Russia.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever has insisted that to move ahead Belgium needs firm guarantees from all other EU states that they will share the liability if Moscow comes calling.
He also wants other countries in the bloc to promise to start tapping Russian assets frozen in their territories.
He warned at Thursday’s summit that unless those conditions were met, he would do all in his power “politically and legally, to stop this decision.”

What’s next? 

Thursday’s summit conclusions — adopted by all member states with the exception of Hungary, seen as Russia’s closest ally in the 27-nation bloc — had to be watered down in light of objections from Belgium.
The text did not mention the loan directly, instead inviting the commission to present “options for financial support” for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027 — to be presented to leaders at their next summit in December.
There is certain to be lengthy wrangling over the small print of any proposal, with lawyers poised to go through it with a fine-tooth comb.
One key sticking point could be the conditions for how the funds can eventually be spent by Kyiv.
France is insisting that the bulk of the funds go to buying weapons from within Europe, as it seeks to bolster the EU’s defense industry.
The commission has backed that argument for now but other member states insist the focus should be on allowing Kyiv to get what it needs to fight Moscow, wherever it comes from.
That could also help to keep US President Donald Trump on side by pumping some of the funds to buying American weaponry.
 

BEELITZ, Germany: The pumpkin is the undisputed star of the show at the Klaistow farm near Berlin.
Over 100,000 pumpkins in various shapes and colors are laid out across the farm and on shelves along its winding paths — 500 different varieties from around the world, each labeled with its name and origin.
The huge pumpkin festival on the farm 56 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of the German capital, which is now taking place for the 22nd time, has become so popular that it draws up to 12,000 visitors on weekend days and more than 5,000 on weekdays.
This year it features 15 larger-than-life pumpkin sculptures and many kinds of sweet and savory food offerings — all made with pumpkin.
The pumpkins hail from the farm’s own pumpkin patches and from around the world.

The festival started in 2004 as more and more Germans were embracing the American tradition of Halloween. In just a few short years it became common for Germans to put carved pumpkins in their yards, for kids to go trick-or-treating and for young adults to revel in gory costumes at parties.
The theme of the first exhibition was how the pumpkin came to Europe, said Antje Winkelmann, who co-runs the family farm, saying it was “a great topic, as it came from America to Europe.”
“Christopher Columbus brought it with him, and we rebuilt the ship that Christopher Columbus sailed on and told the whole story,” she said.
After exploring different topics over the past 21 years, this year is all about women’s power.
“We had sports, we had ancient Rome, we had the Alps and mountains and the world of stars and planets. And now it really felt like it was time for women to be the topic,” Winkelmann said.
They pored over lists of famous women, she said, and then chose a few “based on what would be easy to present, what would be appealing to the eye.”
Winners included Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, the beloved fictional Swedish book character Pippi Longstocking, and ancient Egypt’s Cleopatra — all of them, of course, created from colorful pumpkins.
“We realized there really were and are a lot of amazing women,” Winkelmann said.

On a recent day, families explored the vast farm, strolling past a huge Marge Simpson, her hair made up of dozens of brown, round winter squash, her dress created with small orange pumpkins. Nearby was Elsa from the children’s all-time favorite movie “Frozen,” dressed in pale yellow pumpkins.
Bertha Benz, the famous German automotive pioneer, sat on an early model Mercedes, the wheels decorated with the same kind of orange winter squash as her long skirt.
Gesine Struppert, who visited the farm with her little daughter from the town of Wittenberg, said she was inspired to make new pumpkin dishes at home and was impressed by the sculptures.
“It’s pretty crazy,” she said.
For sale were 30 different kind of pumpkins, both edible and decorative, and many pumpkin delicacies.
“Of course, pumpkin is also on the menu,” Winkelmann said. “We have stuffed pumpkin and chicken coated with pumpkin sauce. We have pumpkin tarte flambée, pumpkin crème brûlée, all kinds of things with pumpkin, so you can try them out. And in our bakery, of course, pumpkin is also in the spotlight, with pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cream slices.”