EU may pay to keep Ukraine afloat if capitals don’t back frozen assets plan soon, says Dombrovskis

To find a solution, EU capitals tasked the Commission with drafting a list of options to support Kyiv. “If we run further delays without deciding on a reparation loan or other feasible option for Ukraine … the question is, how will you provide financial support to Ukraine in early next year? So that’s the question we need to answer in this case,” the commissioner said, talking about a bridging solution.

He also pushed back against Belgium’s concerns that Russia can retaliate by filing a mountain of legal litigation. “The European Commission’s legal service has very thoroughly assessed all the legal risks or possible litigation risks and sees them as contained and, in any case, guarantees to be provided to Belgium is to cover potential financial risks Belgium may face,” Dombrovskis said.

The commissioner added that another option could be to provide Ukraine with grants, but that this path is even “more complicated” for EU countries.