€200bn of frozen Russian assets that could save Ukraine ... and the EU leader blocking its release

Gaining access to the funds held in Brussels is key to Volodymyr Zelensky’s war effort, but the move is facing fierce resistance from Belgium's prime minister

- Isabel Coles

The mood was sombre as European leaders took their seats in a spartan conference room in a hotel in Angola’s capital last week. They had travelled to Luanda for an EU-Africa summit, but their attention was elsewhere.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, dialled in remotely for the hastily convened meeting to discuss a US-backed plan to end the war in Ukraine that threatened their efforts to throw Kyiv a financial lifeline.

It included a proposal to invest hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets in projects that would earn profits for American companies - funds that Europe was seeking to mobilise for Ukraine’s defence.

“It cannot be the case that Europe ends up paying for what Russia has done,” said Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, after the talks.

After days of frenzied diplomacy, Ukrainian and European officials succeeded in watering down the original draft of the peace plan. A new version stipulates that Russian assets will remain frozen - meaning they cannot be legally sold, transferred or otherwise moved - until Moscow compensates Ukraine for damages.

But just because they are frozen does not mean they cannot be used. For months, European leaders have been trying to formulate a plan to raise a €140bn loan for Ukraine against the value of the Russian assets. As the war approaches the four-year mark, Ukraine is running out of money. The loan would be a lifeline - without it, Ukraine could be critically weakened.

“This is the last card the EU has,” said Balázs Jarábik, a former diplomat and political analyst. “If the EU can’t provide the money, essentially, the entire western architecture of supporting Ukraine will collapse.”

There is just one problem: the Flemish nationalist leader of Belgium.