Italy, Bulgaria, and Malta have called on the EU to seek an alternative to using frozen Russian assets for loans to Ukraine.

Italy, Bulgaria, and Malta have called on the EU to seek an alternative to using frozen Russian assets for loans to Ukraine.

Italy, Bulgaria, and Malta have expressed support for Belgium's position, calling on the European Union to seek an alternative to the scheme to finance Ukraine's loans using frozen Russian assets.

The plan is to provide Kyiv with a €210 billion loan secured by Russian funds. In a joint statement, the countries emphasized their support for the EU's decision to permanently freeze Russia's assets, but considered it unacceptable to pre-condition this move on their possible use to finance Ukraine's military needs.

Four states called on the European Commission and the Council to continue discussing other mechanisms to support Kyiv—ones that would comply with EU and international law, have predictable terms, and pose significantly lower legal and financial risks. An EU credit line or temporary interim solutions were mentioned as options.

As Politico notes, the accession of Italy, one of the key EU countries, seriously complicates the European Commission's plans to achieve consensus on a “reparations loan” at the EU summit on December 18-19.