Ukraine will not receive a mega-loan of 140 billion

The reason for this was Belgium's refusal to withdraw its objection to the use of Russian assets, while France and Luxembourg expressed concern about the legal implications, according to the Financial Times.

The “mega-loan” plan stipulated that Ukraine would have to repay the loan after Russia ended the war and paid post-war reparations. After that, the EU would return the funds to Euroclear.

If Russia does not pay reparations to Ukraine after the war, it will lose its rights to these assets.

During a brief discussion of the proposal, a number of EU leaders expressed the view that, although they were prepared to accept the general principle, the European Commission should further assess the legal and fiscal implications.

The European Commission is unlikely to have time to prepare a formal legal proposal for EU leaders before their meeting in Brussels in three weeks, sources told the publication, citing the amount of technical work required.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever spoke out against the new loan proposal at a closed meeting of EU leaders.

De Wever is calling on the EU to provide greater legal protection in case Moscow files a lawsuit against Belgium.

“We need to work out the full proposal in much more detail. It is quite clear that the risk must be borne by all of us,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Although EU representatives say that using Russian assets may be the only way out, the consent of all 27 EU member states is required to secure a loan to Kyiv using these assets.

Photo: glavnoe.in.ua.