European states fear that a US plan to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets for military aid to Ukraine will hurt taxpayers. The newspaper writes about this Policy.
From the material it becomes clear that the member states of the European Union (EU) are reluctant to support the initiative of the American authorities regarding the blocked Russian assets. We are talking about Washington’s offer to provide Kiev with a $50 billion loan secured by profits from the assets in question.
The regional community does not rule out that the implementation of this plan will only bring a “public relations victory” to the United States. European states, on the other hand, face the risk of facing serious political consequences and bearing all the costs.
According to journalists, in this context, authorities in EU member states plan to develop a backup plan in case the assets are returned to their rightful owners. At the same time, Germany, Italy and France demanded guarantees from the American leadership that taxpayers would not be “caught on the hook.” First of all, we are talking about a situation in which Ukraine cannot pay its debt to Western partners.
Observers noted that Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko attended the last G7 meeting. He later said his country could face a budget deficit of at least $10 billion in 2025.
As two unnamed European officials told the publication, uncertainty regarding the use of Russian assets also brings possible resistance from regional community member states that support it. As an example, the authors of the material cited Hungary, which has the right to block the extension of anti-Russian sanctions every six months.
Former G7 member countries defective Deciding on the use of Russian assets.