European Commission proposes using Russian assets frozen in West to allocate loan to Ukraine - media

BRUSSELS. Sept 26 (Interfax) - The European Commission has proposed allocating a 140 billion euro loan to Ukraine from Russian funds frozen in the West, Politico said on Friday.

According to the publication, this idea was brought to the attention of European capitals ahead of a meeting of EU ambassadors, where they will lay the groundwork for a meeting scheduled to take place in Copenhagen next week.

The general outline of the plan was informally discussed for several weeks, Politico said.

The European Commission believes that the loan should be provided in tranches and used within the framework of defense cooperation. The document also proposes changing the rules for extending sanctions from a unanimous decision to a qualified majority, to reduce the risk of Hungary blocking the process.

Earlier in September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for urgent work on a new solution for funding Ukraine's military efforts using frozen Russian assets, putting forward a proposal for a "reparation loan".

Using the leftover cash flows associated with these Russian assets, the EU could give Ukraine a reparation loan with the assets themselves remaining untouched, while the risk would have to be carried collectively, von der Leyen said when presenting the annual report on the state of the European Union at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.