EU finance ministers are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the bloc’s economic and financial agenda, including the increasingly urgent issue of financing for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Bloomberg published on Thursday that the country’s survival depends on receiving more funds from allies.
“I hope, God willing, that we have this decision,” he told Bloomberg Television.
If not, “We will have to find an alternative, it is a matter of our survival. That is why we need it so much. And I rely on partners,” he added.
The European Commission hopes to convince member states and Belgium in particular, while continuing to block the proposal due to legal fears, to proceed with a reparations loan (where Ukraine would receive a loan backed by frozen Russian assets, with the condition that it would only be repaid after Russia pays Ukraine official war reparations), of 140 billion euros based on frozen Russian assets.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted on Thursday that this would be “the most effective way to support Ukraine’s defense and economy.”
A final decision on the matter has been postponed until the EU leaders’ summit in December.
But the talks come at a difficult time for Kiev, as Zelensky has had to act to curb the anger of Ukrainian citizens over a corruption scandal in the energy sector, dismissing two ministers accused of involvement in a large-scale bribery scheme.