Trump pressures EU to drop Ukraine's 'reparations loan' plan using Russian asset

European leaders are meeting in Brussels for this week’s European Council summit with a high-stakes agenda, one of which is a decision on the use of Russian frozen assets worth €210 billion to fund Ukraine. But reports from Politico suggest that the Trump administration is actively lobbying and even asserting pressure on the European leaders to refrain from using the fund.

The European Commission wants to use the Russian assets held in Belgium as security for a Ukraine loan, to help in defence and reconstruction. But Washington is asking to delay it as these assets could be used as leverage for a future peace deal.

"They want to weaken us,” said a senior EU official familiar with transatlantic relations and preparations for the summit. This has indeed widened the rift in the European Union. Several leaders, such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán, the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babiš and Giorgia Meloni of Italy are asking European Union to seek other alternatives.

European officials have described the US pressure as “enormous and unprecedented”. They have warned that the failure of the plan would be a reputational damage for the European Union and hint at the National Strategic Policy of the US which aims to polarise EU and support the Eurosceptic forces within Europe.

“A shattered Ukraine would be in a weaker position at the negotiating table, undercutting its ability to secure a lasting peace and rebuild after four years of all-out war,” read the report.

However the Trump administration has dismissed the report of interference. “A shattered Ukraine would be in a weaker position at the negotiating table, undercutting its ability to secure a lasting peace and rebuild after four years of all-out war,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Ana Kelly. She asserted that the White House has one goal to achieve lasting peace. “Both Ukrainians and Russians have made their positions on frozen assets clear, and our sole aim is to facilitate an exchange of views that could eventually lead to an agreement”, said Deputy Press Secretary Ana Kelly.