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- “I hope that they will make a political decision, positive decision in one or another way to help Ukraine with funds,” Zelensky said
- The move is fraught with legal and political perils
BRUSSELS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope Thursday that the European Union would move forward with plans to help Ukraine with a mammoth new “reparations loan” funded by frozen Russian assets.
Zelensky was in Brussels for talks with EU leaders, who discussed plans to hand 140 billion euros ($162 billion) to Kyiv over the next few years, to keep it afloat as the war with Russia drags on.
“I hope that they will make a political decision, positive decision in one or another way to help Ukraine with funds,” Zelensky told a press conference after the meeting.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive, has floated a complex scheme that would see Ukraine pay back the money only once Russia coughs up for the damages it has caused.
The move is fraught with legal and political perils. Belgium, where the bulk of the money is held, has demanded guarantees that the rest of the bloc will share any liabilities if Russia takes the matter to court.
EU officials are hoping that the EU’s 27 leaders will give a preliminary go-ahead on Thursday for the commission to draw up a formal legal proposal for the loan.
“I think that the dialogue was really, maybe not simple, but it was very good,” Zelensky said of the talks. “Really we count on decisions on this topic.”
“Russia brought war to our land, and they have to pay for this war,” he said.
Asked to sum up his meeting with US President Donald Trump last week, which Ukrainian officials described as “tense,” Zelensky suggested the outcome was better than it perhaps initially seemed.
Zelensky came back empty handed after traveling to Washington in the hope of securing US long-range Tomahawk missiles to hit back at Russia — but the meeting was ultimately followed by US sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
“The result of this meeting — we have sanctions on Russian energy. We don’t have a meeting in Hungary without Ukraine, and we have not yet Tomahawks. That’s it. This is the result. I think, not bad,” Zelensky said.
“Each day brings something,” he added. “Maybe tomorrow we will have Tomahawks.”
The idea of a summit in Budapest between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was floated after a call between the two leaders.
But the plan was shelved this week, with Washington expressing its disappointment at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Moscow and later slapping sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies.