Summit divided on idea of loan secured against Russian assets, as Belgium seeks guarantees if scheme goes wrong

Summit divided on idea of loan secured against Russian assets, as Belgium seeks guarantees if scheme goes wrong

EU leaders are racing to secure a funding deal for Ukraine that has been cast as a choice between “money today or blood tomorrow”, but Belgium continues to oppose a loan secured against Russia’s frozen assets.

At a summit billed as make or break, EU leaders are discussing an unprecedented move to tap some of Russia’s €210bn sovereign assets frozen in the bloc days after the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Under the scheme, the EU would provide Kyiv with a €90bn loan to help keep Ukraine in the fight, as Russia ekes out gains on the battlefields.

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said leaders had a simple choice: “Either money today or blood tomorrow.”

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    29·
    10 hours ago

    I don’t want violence but to act like it doesn’t have a place in our world?

    It’s entirely insincere to pretend more arms to Ukraine will result in less bloodshed. At best, you can argue “at least the right people will die” assuming you squint and tacitly ignore all the conscripts and mercenaries and civilians involved in this conflict.

    But it’s insane to pretend we’re heading towards an end to violence doing exactly what NATO has been doing for the last three years.

    • 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓹𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓽@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 hours ago

      It’s entirely insincere to pretend more arms to Ukraine will result in less bloodshed.

      It’s neutral, without the money more Ukranians will die, with the money more Russians will. We don’t know how or when the war will end so it’s impossible to know whether the total deaths will be greater or smaller with a better funded Ukraine.

      It’s just a matter of taking sides. And I know what side I’m on.

    • Salamanderwizard@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      6 hours ago

      Sure, I can feel bad for the Russian kid drafted into this. But Mercs? Come on now. Guys hired to kill…I’m supposed to shed a tear over them?

      And yes, more arms would help stop the bloodshed of Ukraine because they’d be able to defend themselves more.

      At the end of the day, Ukraine is the victim in this war, and you are blaming them for fighting back.

      The only benefit to beliefs like yours would be that we wouldn’t be going through all this hoopla into fascism and the world we be goose stepping everywhere we go. I’d rather die bloody and beaten than to be on my belly groveling for mercy.