EU leaders meet Thursday to decide whether to unlock frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s war efforts, a momentous decision with political, legal, and military ramifications.
The bloc holds $246 billion in Russian assets, but it has been divided over whether to use the funds as a loan to Kyiv. The effort has taken on greater urgency as Washington has stopped providing new aid to Ukraine.
Failure to unlock the assets means Europe “would not have the money to sustain Ukraine economically and militarily into 2026 and on,” the head of an Italian think tank argued. But Belgium, where most of the funds are held, is especially fearful of blowback from Russia in the form of lawsuits and hybrid warfare tactics.
