Even if you present it as a success that you came up with something, it is a defeat in the long term to appear so divided, he says.
During the night of Friday, it became clear that the EU will provide Ukraine with 90 billion euros in support over the next two years.
However, they failed to reach an agreement on using frozen Russian assets – around 200 billion euros – as the basis for the multi-billion dollar loan. Jakob Hedenskog, an analyst at the Center for East European Studies at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs (UI), says that he believes that the discussion about the frozen assets will be shelved in the coming years.
Success for Ukraine
He calls the approval a success, even though support was reduced.
It can be said that it is a success for Ukraine and a setback for Russia, since Ukraine did not run out of money and is not at risk of acute state financial bankruptcy.
Fredrik Wesslau, a researcher at the Center for East European Studies, calls the failure to give Russian assets to Ukraine a “long, slow, embarrassing story.” But at the same time, the EU is showing strength in rallying around continued support for Ukraine.
Even though they failed to hammer out Plan A, they now have a Plan B that breaks new ground through joint borrowing and is essential for Ukraine and for Ukraine's survival, he says.
Pressured EU
Most of the frozen assets are held by the securities institution Euroclear in Belgium, and the country found itself in a bind because not enough countries provided guarantees in the face of the risk of Russian claims for damages.
According to Hedenskog, it can be assumed that Russia, perhaps even the USA, has pressured Belgium and Euroclear – which suggests that it is easy to play off the EU countries.
The US and Russia are pressuring the EU from each side with a common view that the EU should be undermined. Also remember that Russia and the US have had joint plans, according to the 28-point peace plan presented last fall, to use the frozen Russian assets for joint investment projects.
