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The European Council must take a decision on using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, even if it takes several days to reach an agreement.
This was stated by Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, UATV English reports.
“Probably the word of the day — or even the word of the year — is frozen Russian assets. And there are two strong reasons to use these frozen assets. The question is whether we can reach an agreement today. I very much hope so. But we’ll see. The day will be long, maybe even two days — I don’t know,” Michal said.
According to the Estonian prime minister, there are two compelling reasons to move forward with the use of frozen Russian assets.
“The first is the principle: the aggressor must pay for the damage caused. Not European taxpayers and not anyone else — but the aggressor. The second reason is that Ukraine needs to know that Europe is capable of acting and that it stands behind Ukraine at any moment. If we make a decision on frozen assets, it will also send a signal to our partners that we are serious,” Michal stressed.
Commenting on the prospects for reaching an agreement, Michal acknowledged that talks may be lengthy.
“If we don’t reach an agreement today, we will continue tomorrow. If not tomorrow — the day after tomorrow. I have a free calendar for this,” he said.
The Estonian prime minister emphasized that this issue is strategic for Europe.
“For Europe, this is a ‘make or break’ moment, because everyone is watching us on the issue of frozen assets,” Michal concluded.
As previously reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Brussels, where he is taking part in the meeting of the European Council.
