This Monday, the 16th, Foreign Ministers will discuss the proposal to support Ukraine for the next two years, to try to unblock it in time for the meeting of European Union (EU) leaders at the end of the week.
The Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, participates in the meeting in Brussels headed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.
Although there are other topics – namely the democratic path that Syria is taking a year after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the increasingly tenuous ceasefire between Israel and the radical Hamas movement, which administered the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip – the meeting will focus on support for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, and on the European Commission’s proposal to use Russian resources immobilized in the EU to pay for the destruction perpetrated by Moscow.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, will participate via videoconference and is expected to provide an update on negotiating efforts with the United States of America (USA), from which the EU was excluded by Washington, even though the agreement with Russia could outline Europe’s new security architecture.
Last Friday, the EU approved, by majority and with Hungary and Slovakia voting against, a decision to keep Russian assets immobilized indefinitely in the community space, serving as the basis for loaning reparations to Ukraine.
European sources told Lusa that the ambassadors of the Member States to the EU gave approval, through a written procedure, to the maintenance for an indefinite period of time of the freezing of Russian sovereign assets immobilized due to European sanctions on Russia, which amount to 210 billion euros, in a vote with 25 votes in favor and two against (from Hungary and Slovakia).
On the same day, the Portuguese Government said it supports the proposal to loan reparations to Ukraine based on Russian assets immobilized in the European Union, trusting that it will be approved by European leaders next week.
Bilateral meetings are currently taking place in Brussels to try to unlock European financing options for the country invaded by Russia in February 2022.
Two weeks ago, the European Commission proposed a controversial reparations loan based on frozen Russian assets and a smaller credit based on the EU budget, to support Ukraine in 2026 and 2027.
The first proposal faces opposition from Belgium, a country that hosts most of the frozen Russian assets (through Euroclear) and that demands clear guarantees and commitments from other Member States to protect itself legally, as it does not want to take the risk of running out of funds if Russia does not pay reparations.
The issue will be discussed by EU leaders at the summit in two weeks’ time, in a high-level meeting that is seen as decisive in reaching an agreement as Ukraine runs out of available funding next spring.