The bloc will not be able to play a \u201crelevant role\u201d unless it acts now, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has claimed<\/p>\n
The EU must move quickly to agree on using frozen Russian assets to support Kiev if it wants to have a say in the ongoing talks on a US-drafted peace plan for Ukraine, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has said.
\nSpeaking to Bloomberg on Monday, Budrys stated that \u201cnow is the time to make a decision,\u201d warning that \u201cotherwise, it will be a lost opportunity for Europe to play the relevant role.\u201d
\n\u201cThe first priority for Europe is to\u2026 get the ticket to the table. We have to get some leverage. The two things that provide access to negotiations are frozen assets, that\u2019s one, and number two is the EU for Ukraine. That would provide something credible.\u201d\u00a0
\nSince the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU has frozen about \u20ac210 billion ($230 billion) in Russian central bank assets, most of them at Belgian clearing house Euroclear, out of some $300 billion in total blocked by the West.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Euroclear could sue EU to oppose seizure of Russian assets \u2013 CEO<\/p>\n
EU leaders have been debating a \u201creparations loan\u201d backed by the immobilized Russian reserves. The idea hinges on the notion that it will be repaid by Kiev only once Moscow pays damages to Kiev \u2013 something which is unlikely to happen.
\nThe scheme, however, has stalled amid legal and political concerns, with Belgium pushing for shared liability across the bloc. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has branded the loan scheme a \u201ctheft,\u201d warning that those who back the idea \u201cwill be prosecuted in one way or another.\u201d
\nBudrys\u2019 comments come as Washington floated a 28-point peace framework that would reportedly require Kiev to accept limits on its military, stay out of NATO, relinquish the parts of the new Russian regions in Donbass still under Kiev\u2019s control, and open a window for sanctions relief for Moscow.
\nThe EU has been largely absent from the talks, with media reports suggesting it was \u201ckept in the dark\u201d on the roadmap\u2019s details. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later rejected the plan, insisting that Ukraine\u2019s borders cannot be changed \u201cby force.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The bloc will not be able to play a \u201crelevant role\u201d unless it acts now, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has claimed The EU must move quickly to agree on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t