"The EU's problem is not Belgium, but Trump": Politico learns of continued Washington pressure on Russian assets
Kyiv • UNN
The EU leaders' summit on Thursday will test whether the bloc can hold together or whether US President Donald Trump can divide it. Officials of the Trump administration have been pushing European governments to reject a plan to use 210 billion euros of Russian assets to finance Ukraine.
The EU leaders' summit on Thursday will test whether the bloc can hold together or if US President Donald Trump can divide it, as Trump administration officials continued to push European governments to reject a plan to use 210 billion euros of Russian assets to finance Ukraine, Politico reports, according to UNN.
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The disagreements among European governments over using Russian assets, frozen after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, to finance the country's reconstruction expose a deeper rift on the continent over how to deal with a new world order and unprecedented pressure from the US, the publication indicates.
"They want to make us weak," said a senior EU official familiar with transatlantic relations and preparations for the summit.
This week, the European Council must do two things. Leaders need tangible results, especially regarding financing Ukraine. But key governments also say they need to support the EU when the White House tries to influence policy, and more European leaders than ever – from Viktor Orbán of Hungary to Andrej Babiš of the Czech Republic – are rejecting Brussels' conventional wisdom, the publication writes.
The EU "will suffer serious damage for years" if it cannot reach an agreement on financing Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an interview with German television, adding: "And we will show the world that at such a crucial moment in our history, we are unable to unite and act to protect our own political order on this European continent."
Refusal to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine will harm the EU - Merz16.12.25, 11:07 • 3752 views
Trump administration officials have been pushing European governments – at least those they consider most friendly – to reject a plan to use 210 billion euros of Russian assets to finance Ukraine
When EU leaders met in Brussels in October, they failed to reach an agreement on the immobilized funds because Belgium opposed it.
"Two months later, it became clear that the EU's problem was not really Belgium, but Trump," the publication states.
The European Commission and the most influential capitals have been negotiating with each other during this period, trying to secure the support of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, whose support is crucial as his country holds most of the Russian assets frozen in Europe. Discussions intensified over the past week as the EU sought to provide guarantees to Belgium.
But the chances of reaching a deal worsened, not improved, even during Tuesday, a senior official said. "I wanted to cry," they said of the mood at a meeting of EU affairs ministers preparing for the summit in Brussels.
The Belgian government states that its opposition to using Russian assets to finance the loan is due to the need to protect its own taxpayers from liability in case the money ever has to be returned.
For other European countries, it concerns broader geopolitics.
"The American influence campaign, in which Trump administration officials bypassed Brussels and held informal talks with capitals, led to Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, and the Czech Republic joining the group of dissenting countries," the publication writes.
"Failure would be a disaster for the EU's position in the world," European officials said, given the message it would send. Not only to the quarrelsome Trump administration, which in its National Security Strategy published earlier this month stated that it would support Eurosceptic forces, but also to the Kremlin head Vladimir Putin, who openly questions the sovereignty of former Soviet states, the publication writes.
Manfred Weber, the leader of the center-right European People's Party, the largest political family in the EU, gave a striking assessment of the deteriorating state of relations on Tuesday.
"The US is clearly no longer the leader of the free world," he told reporters in Strasbourg, where the European Parliament is meeting this week. The Trump administration "is distancing itself from us."
"I don't even have the right word," said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas when asked what would happen if the EU failed to conclude a loan agreement. Kyiv must know "that Europe supports Ukraine under all circumstances. That they don't have to agree to a bad deal."
According to a leaked draft peace plan agreed upon by the White House and the Kremlin, Washington wants to use part of Russia's frozen assets to finance US-led reconstruction efforts. Returning frozen assets to Ukraine as part of a reparations loan would allow Ukraine to decide where to direct the money, and France is pushing for a "Europe first" approach to arms spending.
Trump is also pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to cede to Russia sections of heavily fortified and strategically important territory in Donbas – territory that the Kremlin does not currently control.
The White House rejected Brussels' accusations of interference.
"Assumptions from anonymous sources who were not present at these discussions should not be taken seriously," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Hannah Kelly. "The sole goal of the United States is to bring peace to this conflict… Both Ukrainians and Russians have clearly expressed their positions on frozen assets, and our only task is to facilitate negotiations that can ultimately lead to an agreement."
During protracted negotiations on Tuesday, EU officials and leaders increasingly raised the "nuclear option": pushing through the reparations loan by qualified majority vote, in other words, ignoring the objections of some countries and moving forward. But some officials said this would tear apart an already fractured bloc and likely plunge it into a real crisis
Another alternative is simply to offer some countries limited bilateral loans, the publication notes.
"It is important that Belgium participates" in the agreement, "but we'll see," said Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa on Tuesday, adding: "If this [qualified majority vote] is the only [option], why not?"
"It is important for the EU to demonstrate its strength and also the ability to make a strong decision, because we have been working long enough and have promised Ukraine that we will help it with financial resources, and frozen assets are indeed a good source," she said.
Siliņa significantly added: "Regarding Belgium, I think I don't want them to become a second Hungary." Last week, the publication reported that diplomats warned that Belgium risked alienating itself in the EU decision-making process due to its defiance regarding the asset agreement.
As negotiations between European officials have not led to an agreement, the leaders who will be present in person at Thursday's summit have the unusual task of coming up with a solution themselves