Brussels proposes €140 billion Ukraine loan using frozen Russian assets

This is stated in a document sent to EU capitals, which  Politico reviewed.

The proposal was presented to national capitals ahead of the EU ambassadors’ meeting on Friday, where groundwork will be laid for next week’s European leaders’ summit in Copenhagen.

The broad outlines of the plan have been discussed informally for several weeks. Under the scheme, Ukraine would start repaying the loan only after Russia ends the war and pays post-war reparations.

In this case, the EU would cover the costs of Euroclear, the Belgian financial institution holding the frozen Russian assets, according to the document.

The Commission noted that the loan would be disbursed in tranches and used both for “defense cooperation” and to support Kyiv’s regular budgetary needs.

It also raised the idea of changing the procedure for extending sanctions - from unanimity to a qualified majority - to reduce the risk of Hungary blocking the process and Russian assets being returned.