Papuashvili: This War Truly Has Two Losers – Ukraine and the European Union

Shalva Papuashvili, the Chairman of the Georgian Dream Parliament, commented on the Brussels decision about Ukraine, stating that “the war truly has two losers - Ukraine and the European Union.”

“All wars ultimately end in peace. The question is, who is harmed by this war? One thing we can say from today's perspective, including last night's decisions by the European Union, is that

It is impossible to say whether there would be a winner in this war, but it can now be said with certainty that this war truly has two losers: Ukraine and the European Union.

 Ukraine, which now has to decide on the de facto recognition of the loss of its territories, has lost hundreds of thousands of its citizens over these four years, shed blood, and destroyed its economy [....] Secondly, the European Union, which has now been made to bear the burden of financial assistance to Ukraine, including the provision of military aid,” said Shalva Papuashvili.

At a summit in Brussels on December 18, EU leaders failed to agree on a “reparation loan” to assist Ukraine using frozen Russian assets. Instead, the EU approved €90 billion in financial aid in the form of a loan, guaranteed by the common EU budget.

“The European Council agrees to provide a loan to Ukraine of EUR 90 billion for the years 2026-2027 based on EU borrowing on the capital markets backed by the EU budget headroom,” the European Council stated in a press release issued on December 18.

When Russia launched its war against Ukraine, 210 billion euros were frozen within the European Union. Over 180 billion euros of this amount are held in Euroclear, an international fund depository based in Belgium. 

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who opposed the use of Russian assets, said that there were so many questions about the “reparation loan” that it was necessary to move to “Plan B.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude to all EU leaders for their decision to provide the loan. At the same time, he stressed that it is vital to keep frozen Russian assets untouched and that Ukraine should receive financial security guarantees for the coming years.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, called the summit in Brussels a “thieves’ gathering” (воровской сходняк). According to him, the participants of the gathering were “afraid” of “openly stealing” Russian money, but “Brussels thieves did not abandon their plans to commit a future robbery,”

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„საქართველოს ამბების“ რედაქტორი. პროფესიით იურისტია. აშუქებს ადამიანის უფლებებთან, ეთნიკურ უმცირესობებთან, კონფლიქტის ზონებთან და ტერორიზმთან დაკავშირებულ თემებს. E-mail: Mtivlishvili@gmail.com