"Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgium's prime minister, Bart De Wever, for emergency talks on Friday as the EU races to save its sorely needed financing plan for Ukraine. The three leaders will dine in private in Brussels, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday, as Belgian officials continued to express strong opposition to the scheme, which involves the unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets."
"von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed two main options for the EU to raise the tens of billions of euros Ukraine needs to keep funding its struggling military and basic services against Russia's war. The EU has pledged to keep Ukraine afloat next year. It aims to raise 90bn (80bn) to meet about two-thirds of Kyiv's needs for 2026 and 2027, von der Leyen said, giving Ukraine the means to negotiate a peace deal from a position of strength."
Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz will meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever for private emergency talks in Brussels to try to salvage a financing plan for Ukraine. The EU aims to raise about €90bn to cover roughly two-thirds of Kyiv's needs for 2026–2027 to sustain military operations and basic services. Von der Leyen proposed either borrowing against the EU budget on international markets or issuing a loan secured by immobilised Russian assets mainly held in Belgium, with Kyiv to repay from future Russian reparations. Many member states oppose common borrowing and Belgium strongly rejects the frozen assets plan.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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