The bloc will not be able to play a “relevant role” unless it acts now, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has claimed
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.
Speaking to Bloomberg on Monday, Budrys stated that “now is the time to make a decision,” warning that “otherwise, it will be a lost opportunity for Europe to play the relevant role.”
“The first priority for Europe is to… get the ticket to the table. We have to get some leverage. The two things that provide access to negotiations are frozen assets, that’s one, and number two is the EU for Ukraine. That would provide something credible.”
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU has frozen about €210 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.
EU leaders have been debating a “reparations loan” 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 – something which is unlikely to happen.
The 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 “theft,” warning that those who back the idea “will be prosecuted in one way or another.”
Budrys’ 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’s control, and open a window for sanctions relief for Moscow.
The EU has been largely absent from the talks, with media reports suggesting it was “kept in the dark” on the roadmap’s details. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later rejected the plan, insisting that Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed “by force.”
