BRUSSELS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen insisted Thursday that using frozen Russian assets to fund a new loan was the “most effective way” to finance Ukraine, as she laid out other options after opposition from Belgium.
The 27-nation bloc is scrambling for funds to help Kyiv plug looming budget black holes as Russia’s war drags on toward a fourth year.
Von der Leyen’s executive has put forward a plan to use Russian central bank assets immobilized in Belgium to generate a 140-billion-euro “reparations loan” for Ukraine.
But that has so far faced opposition from the Belgian government that fears it could face legal reprisals from Moscow.
“We are working closely with Belgium, and all member states, on options,” von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.
She remained adamant the frozen assets plan — under which the EU “gives a loan to Ukraine, that Ukraine pays back if Russia pays reparations” — remains the best choice.
“This is the most effective way to sustain Ukraine’s defense and its economy. And the clearest way to make Russia understand that time is not on its side,” the European Commission president said.
Von der Leyen set out two other options if there was no green light on that plan.
The first was to use wiggle room in the EU’s central budget to raise money on capital markets and the second was that member states agree to raise the money together themselves.
EU officials and diplomats warn that both plans would incur greater costs for countries at a time when national budgets are under strain.
Diplomats said that by setting them out, von der Leyen was looking to pile pressure on Belgium to agree to tap the frozen assets.
EU officials say they want to seal a deal on a financing plan for Ukraine at a summit of the bloc’s leaders in December.
EU chief insists using Russian assets best way to fund Ukraine
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EU chief insists using Russian assets best way to fund Ukraine
- The 27-nation bloc is scrambling for funds to help Kyiv plug looming budget black holes as Russia’s war drags on toward a fourth year
Trump talks trade with Canada, Mexico leaders at World Cup draw
- Friday’s talks were the first between Trump and Sheinbaum
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump met Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, with the talks partly focused on the future of a North American free trade deal.
The leaders met in Washington on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“The three leaders met for approximately 45 minutes,” Carney spokesperson Audrey Champoux said in an email.
“They’ve agreed to keep working together on CUSMA,” she added, using the Canadian acronym for the existing free trade deal between the three countries, which Americans call the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement .
The USMCA deal was struck during Trump’s first term.
Trump has slapped steep tariffs on exports from Canada and Mexico that do not fall under the USMCA, which Washington is seeking to renegotiate next year.
Friday’s talks were the first between Trump and Sheinbaum.
Carney has visited the White House twice since Trump’s return to power, but it will be his first encounter with Trump — except for a brief meeting at a summit in South Korea — since the US leader suspended trade talks in a bizarre row over an anti-tariff ad.
Trump has also threatened further punishment if they fail to curb cross-border migration and drug trafficking — and irked Sheinbaum by saying he would be “OK” with air strikes on Mexico to tackle traffickers.
She has vowed the strikes will never happen.
Canada also was outraged by Trump’s calls earlier this year for it to become the 51st US state.
Carney drew criticism at recent G20 meetings in South Africa when, asked by a reporter when he last spoke to Trump, answered, “Who cares?“
The three countries launched their joint World Cup bid in 2017 during Trump’s first term in the White House.
Trump said Friday that the United States had worked closely with Mexico and Canada over the tournament, adding “the coordination and friendship and relationship has been outstanding.”
