Closing summary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged EU leaders to reach a deal at a critical summit where EU leaders were trying to overcome differences on whether to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort against Russian aggression.
Zelenskyy said without a significant cash injection by spring, Ukraine will have to cut its drone production, with Kyiv under pressure to cede territory as the US pushes for a swift deal to bring the war to an end.
Most of Russia’s €210bn (£185bn; $245bn) worth of assets in the EU are held by Euroclear, the Brussels-based securities depository.
Belgium is deeply anxious about being left exposed to legal and financial risks, and other states including Italy have also voiced concerns. EU leaders arriving at the summit in Brussels said it was imperative they find a solution.
Russia has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in a Moscow court to try to get its money back. Russia’s central bank said in a statement today that “in connection with the ongoing attempts … to illegaly seize and use” its assets, it just wanted to warn everyone that would take legal actions to “recover damages from European banks in a Russian arbitration court,” demanding not just the value of “illegally withheld assets,” but also “lost profits”.
A draft summit text presented on Thursday pledged “full solidarity” and risk-sharing with countries and financial institutions in the context of the reparations loan. But the text seen by the Guardian was scant on details sought by Belgium.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said leaders had a simple choice: “Either money today or blood tomorrow.”
Tusk also warned that Ukraine’s capitulation – as a result of a lack of European support and poor decision making – would put Poland’s independence under threat if it were to happen.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said, meanwhile, that a Russian hypersonic, nuclear-capable missile known as the “Oreshnik” had been deployed in Belarus.
Thanks for following along today. We are now closing this blog. You can read a wrap-up of today’s events in this story by my colleagues Jennifer Rankin and Helena Smith.
Updated
Helena Smith is the Guardian’s Athens-based correspondent
On a flying visit to Athens on Thursday, the UK’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, underlined the importance of “mobilising” Russia’s frozen assets, saying it was clear Moscow was still bent on waging its war of aggression in Ukraine.
“I see two presidents who are pursuing peace at the moment, President Trump and President Zelenskyy and one president, President Putin who is still seeking to escalate conflict and war,” she told a press conference.
“That is why it is so important to make progress on mobilising the Russian sovereign assets in order to be able to support Ukraine and also to be able to put increased pressure on Russia to properly bring them to the table and pursue peace.”
Cooper said by putting the legal steps in place to seize proceeds from the 2022 sale of Chelsea football club – announced by the British government on Wednesday – the UK was giving the Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich, the chance “to now honour the commitment he made three years ago towards the people of Ukraine” to support humanitarian efforts in the country.
Cooper’s visit was the first to Athens by a British foreign secretary since April 2017 when Boris Johnson, then in the post, stood in the same room at the Greek foreign ministry and announced: “As we prepare to leave the EU, I look forward to strengthening our historic ties.”
Eight years later, Cooper emphasised the importance of the UK’s international alliances more generally saying: “We know we are stronger as a result of the partnerships we build abroad, those that support partnerships that make us stronger at home.”
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