Spending Russia's billions could split, or ruin, the EU

In the nearly four years since Russia’s invasion, the European Union has maintained unity in its support for Ukraine.

- MARY DEJEVSKY

That solidarity, however, has come under increasing strain, with this week’s EU summit risking the first really significant split – and potentially dire consequences for Ukraine. The issue is, of course, money, and specifically whether the cash-strapped EU countries will decide that the best way of keeping Ukraine afloat is to reach into the €210bn (£184bn) of Russian assets that have been frozen in EU banks since the start of the war.

Hungary and Slovakia, countries which have kept up sporadic ties with Moscow, were always dissenters on the question of using Russia's frozen assets. What their dissent concealed, however, was that their objections were widely, if quietly, shared. Now, at least five other countries, Belgium, Italy, Malta, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, are said to be against, with indications also from Paris that it too has misgivings about using around €18bn of Russian assets frozen in France. There may well be others lying low in the hope of avoiding a high noon.

At stake are very big issues of principle and practicality, with equally large implications not just for the EU, but globally.

The consensus among those who take the view that Russia acted illegally and thereby forfeited any right to international legal protection for assets held abroad is that, one way or another, the money should be used for Ukraine's benefit - although some murkiness now surrounds precisely what it should be spent on and when.