Call transcript shows EU leaders tell Zelensky that they, not US, will decide on frozen Russian assets [View all]

(The Kyiv Independent is a much better source of news on Ukraine than US media.)

https://kyivindependent.com/exclusive-eu-leaders-say-that-they-not-us-will-decide-on-frozen-russian-assets/

European leaders privately insisted they alone should control decisions over immobilized Russian assets during a recent call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a transcript obtained by the Kyiv Independent, even as the U.S. reportedly lobbied European countries to block plans to lend the cash to Ukraine.

In the call, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen repeatedly stressed that Europe is moving forward with a so–called reparations loan and is solely responsible for decisions regarding the assets.

The transcript was shared with the Kyiv Independent by a senior diplomatic source.

The EU formally presented the reparations loan on Dec. 3, which could lend up to 210 billion euros ($245 billion) of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to keep the country's finances afloat, as Kyiv hurtles towards an existential cash crunch in mid–2026.

But the announcement comes as Bloomberg reported on Dec. 5, citing European diplomatic sources, that U.S. officials had tried to convince European countries to block the plan, and that the assets are needed to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

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