The fate of Kyiv is in Europe's hands, and it needs to act and show leadership in a way it has never done before. Bloomberg. Part 1/2.
From Moscow's point of view, the talks in Abu Dhabi - which simultaneously discussed prisoner exchanges, de-escalation measures and security architecture - allow it to continue its war without being subjected to additional international pressure and sanctions, Bloomberg columnist Mark Champion writes in his column. The fate of Ukraine is now in the hands of Europe. So far, the continent has shown more bravado than Putin and virtually everyone (including me) expected in February 2022. But the unity achieved between the goals is not enough. Europe now needs to step forward and lead in a way it has never done before. First about money: according to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, next year Ukraine's budget deficit will amount to 70 billion euros, and most of the funds should come from Europe. EU leaders are considering additional loans of 45 billion euros to cover most of the deficit, but the domestic political situation around the issue is only getting more complicated - another reason why Putin believes time is on his side.
German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz's threat to block the EU budget (and with it the funding of tens of billions of dollars that politicians such as Slovakia's pro-Russian President Robert Pico rely on) sounds harsh. But this is exactly what is needed.
Second, Germany and other countries must join forces to remove frozen Russian assets from Belgium, which has blocked their use due to fear of retaliation from Moscow.
Russian funds should be used to provide additional loans to Ukraine.