BRUSSELS, December 17. /TASS/. The EU must make a final decision on financing Ukraine in 2026-2027 using Russian assets at the summit on December 18-19, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in the European Parliament.

"The IMF and our estimates show that Ukraine's needs are just over 137 billion euros in 2026 and 2027. Europe should cover two-thirds," she said. "This is why I proposed two options for reparations: one based on assets and one based on EU borrowing. Last week, we agreed on the sustained immobilization of Russian assets. This is a decisive step that sends a strong political message. It means that the Russian assets will remain immobilized until we decide otherwise <…>. With the assets immobilized indefinitely, we can turn this into a real game changer for Ukraine and Europe," the European Commission head noted.

According to von der Leyen, the EU will reverse its decision only if Russia stops its special military operation and "duly compensates Ukraine for all the damages done." The latest estimates by the European Commission put the amount of damage allegedly caused to Ukraine at over 500 billion euros.

On December 3, when the European Commission presented its plans to finance Kiev, two options were mentioned: expropriating Russian assets and issuing Eurobonds for a pan-European loan. Under the pan-European loan option, Kiev would receive 90 billion euros over two years. Through expropriation of Russian assets, Kiev would receive 140 billion euros over the same period.

Since then, the European Commission has repeatedly stated that confiscating Russian assets is a priority.

Situation around Russian assets

On December 12, the European Union Council decided to freeze Russia's sovereign assets indefinitely. The European Commission hopes to persuade EU countries at the December 18-19 summit to expropriate 210 billion euros in Russian assets, of which 185 billion euros are frozen at Euroclear in Belgium, to finance Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the confiscation of Russian assets being discussed in Europe would be an act of theft. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko told TASS that the country's leadership has already been presented with options for responding to the potential seizure of Russian assets by Western countries.