Washington’s proposal jeopardizes the timetable for new financial aid promised by Brussels to Kiev, according to a German newspaper.
The U.S.-drafted Ukraine peace plan could potentially “torpedo” the EU’s attempts to use frozen Russian assets to fund Kiev, the German newspaper Handelsblatt has reported.
The European Commission has been seeking to issue a €140 billion ($160 billion) loan to Kiev, secured against Moscow’s immobilized funds held at the Euroclear clearing house in Belgium. The scheme is based on the assumption that Russia will eventually pay reparations to Ukraine, an outcome widely seen as unlikely.
Moscow has said it regards any use of its assets as “theft” and has vowed to challenge it in court. The plan has also faced opposition from Belgium, which has demanded that all EU members share in the financial and legal risks associated with the move.
In its article on Friday, Handelsblatt cited an unnamed high-ranking Belgian official, who said that “new risks for the reparations credit are already emerging. Because the peace plan that emerged this week provides for the immobilized Russian assets to be used differently.”