EU leaders face crunch decision on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine

18/12/2025 17:06

European Union leaders will try to agree on how to lend billions of euros of desperately needed cash to Ukraine in a meeting on Thursday that is seen as a critical test of the group's strength in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump calling them weak.



The EU sees Russia's war as a threat to its own security and wants to keep Ukraine financed and fighting.



The European Commission has proposed using frozen Russian central bank assets that are mostly held in a Belgian clearing house to secure a huge loan to Kyiv, but Belgium is concerned the plan is not legally watertight while other states including Italy have expressed concern.



EU leaders arriving at the summit said it was imperative they find a solution.



"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. "This is our decision to make and only ours."



European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said she would not leave the summit without agreement on how to finance Ukraine over the next two years.