‘Money today or blood tomorrow’: EU leaders race to secure deal for Ukraine

Summit divided on idea of loan secured against Russian assets, as Belgium seeks guarantees if scheme goes wrong

EU leaders are racing to secure a funding deal for Ukraine that has been cast as a choice between “money today or blood tomorrow”, but Belgium continues to oppose a loan secured against Russia’s frozen assets.

At a summit billed as make or break, EU leaders are discussing an unprecedented move to tap some of Russia’s €210bn sovereign assets frozen in the bloc days after the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Under the scheme, the EU would provide Kyiv with a €90bn loan to help keep Ukraine in the fight, as Russia ekes out gains on the battlefields.

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said leaders had a simple choice: “Either money today or blood tomorrow.”