Slovakia will not support use of frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s military spending, - Fico
Slovakia does not intend to support the EU's plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's military expenditures.
This was stated by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, according to Bloomberg, as reported by Censor.NET.
"Slovakia will not participate in any legal or financial schemes to seize frozen assets if these funds are spent on military expenses in Ukraine," said the head of the Slovak government.
Fico threatened to block sanctions
Fico had previously threatened to block sanctions against Russia, but ultimately agreed after receiving additional concessions.
However, he categorically refused to confiscate Russian assets to finance Ukraine.
"Do we want to end the war or are we just fueling it? We are going to give Ukraine €140 billion so that the war continues. What does that mean? It means that the war will continue for at least another two years," said the Slovak prime minister.
Russian assets to help Ukraine
- Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed using frozen Russian assets as collateral for providing Ukraine with "reparation loans". Formally, Russian assets subject to sanctions will not be confiscated, but Ukraine will repay such loans only after Russia pays reparations.
- According to various estimates, the European Union's "reparations loan" to Ukraine, secured by Russian assets, could amount to €130-140 billion. Its final size will be determined after the International Monetary Fund assesses Ukraine's financing needs in 2026 and 2027.
- In total, Euroclear currently holds more than €175 billion in cash from frozen Russian assets, which could be used to secure a new loan. But before the EU agrees to grant a reparations loan, it will want to repay the G7 loan to Ukraine of €45 billion ($50 billion) agreed last year, which was to be repaid from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
