Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday demanded to the EU Council that the Russian assets should be used to defend against Russian aggression as well as to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure of Ukraine, which resulted due to Russian attacks that started in 2022.
The statement from Zelensky came as Crunch EU summit has started to decide on “using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine.”
The EU is holding a crunch summit in Brussels to decide on using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort. The plan is to loan Ukraine around €90 billion over the next two years, using €210 billion in frozen Russian assets as collateral. However, Belgium, where most of these assets are held, is hesitant due to potential legal and financial risks from Russia.
Zelensky made a point, if money confiscated by the EU from various drug-trafficking, seized weapons from terrorists for good purposes, why should not the Russian assets be used in rebuilding the infrastructure that were damaged by Russia attacks.
“At the EU Council meeting I said: just like authorities confiscate money from drug-traffickers and seize weapons from terrorists, Russian assets must be used to defend against Russian aggression and rebuild what was destroyed by Russian attacks. It’s moral. It’s fair. It’s legal,” Zelensky demanded at an EU meeting which he later shared on X.
European Union leaders are now trying to mitigate the differences on whether to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort or not.
Zelensky has received support from other European leaders too! EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, “We just can’t afford to fail. We have to show that we are strong.”
“Now we have a simple choice – either money today or blood tomorrow. And I am not talking about Ukraine only, I am talking about Europe,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
“If this decision isn’t made now, the Russians – and not only them – will feel that Europe can be defeated. Defeat isn’t what people of Europe need. They need Europe not to back-down before aggressors. No reward for the aggressor is the key principle of peace that must be proven,” Zelensky said ahead of the summit.
“If we know – and if Putin knows – that we can stay resilient, then his reason to drag-out this war becomes much weaker. This is how pressure on the aggressor should work – pressure that brings peace. Thank you to everyone leading Europe in this direction. Europe must be strong,” he said.
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