The European Union divides the future loan to Ukraine: 140 billion euros have become the cause of controversy
The European Union is considering a €140 billion loan to Ukraine, financed by frozen Russian assets. However, there has already been a dispute within the EU – Paris and Berlin want the funds to be used only to purchase weapons made in Europe.
This is reported by Politico.
Currently, European Union countries have not reached an agreement on the details of the loan, which is supposed to help Ukraine strengthen its defense in the war against Russia.
France, Germany, and Italy are proposing that most of the funds be returned to the European defense economy, instead of going to overseas purchases.
The issue is expected to be one of the key ones at the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on October 23. It is there that the European Commission is expected to be instructed to prepare a legal mechanism for providing the loan.
Back in September, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized in an article for the Financial Times that such a program should not only help Ukraine, but also strengthen the defense industry of the EU itself.
“A large-scale program of support for Ukraine should become an incentive for the development of European military production – this will strengthen both our security and sovereignty,” Merz noted.
The Netherlands, the Baltic countries, and Scandinavia take a different position. They insist that Ukraine should independently determine from whom to purchase weapons — in Europe or in the United States.
Despite this, after pressure from France and Germany, a clause on the “need to strengthen the European defense industry” through loan financing has already been added to the draft final documents of the summit.
Some diplomats consider this an excessive restriction.
“If the goal is to provide Ukraine with everything it needs for defense, then it should not tie its hands,” said one of the EU representatives.
Critics point out that the “buy European” requirement could prevent Kyiv from obtaining systems that Europe does not yet produce, such as the American Patriot air defense systems.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in an interview with Politico:
“We all want Ukraine to buy more weapons from Europe, but we have to be realistic – we don’t have all the necessary weapons. Therefore, Kyiv should be able to buy from the US if necessary.”
Controversy over the use of the loan was already evident last week during a meeting of EU defense ministers. Former Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene, who recently resigned, also supported the idea of allowing the purchase of American weapons with these funds.
“If we can use the loan as a reparations mechanism to finance what Ukraine needs most, that’s right. The main thing is that this money covers the most urgent needs, even if it’s about American weapons,” Shakaliene emphasized.
She also recalled that within the framework of the NATO Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, the United States provides weapons to Ukraine if European allies pay for the supplies.
As reported, the European Commission has developed a new initiative that involves using the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to finance a large-scale loan to Ukraine. This is an amount of 140 billion euros, which Kyiv will be able to receive to support the budget and strengthen the defense sector.
As a reminder, the idea of a “reparations loan” was proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Its essence is to finance Ukraine’s war efforts with the proceeds from frozen Russian assets .
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