EU Debt Plan for Ukraine Stalls as Key Nations Rebel

A German-led proposal to use frozen Russian assets for a massive EU loan to Ukraine has stalled. The plan, championed by German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, faced immediate resistance at a recent summit. Instead of backing the idea, France, Italy, Belgium, and several smaller EU states united behind a different solution. They support issuing new common EU debt to fund military aid for Kyiv. This joint debt proposal is controversial. Frugal member states, like Germany, strongly oppose taking on more shared EU debt. The disagreement reveals a deep split within Europe on how to financially sustain Ukraine. The original German plan aimed to use profits from frozen Russian central bank assets as collateral for a €100 billion loan. The summit rejection is a significant setback for this approach. EU leaders have now asked their officials to study all funding options and report back.