Benjamin Haddad, France's Minister Delegate for European Affairs, has outlined the conditions that French President Emmanuel Macron has set for providing reparations loans to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets.

Source: European Pravda, citing Benjamin Haddad speaking on the margins of a meeting of the EU General Affairs Council in Brussels on 17 November

Details: Haddad revealed Macron's position on frozen Russian assets.

Quote: "We've been working with the Commission, with our partners at the European Council, on the proposal on using the Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine, especially Ukraine's military needs, with a few strict conditions that President Macron laid out at the last European Council."

Details: Haddad said that "one of these conditions is that the scheme needs to be in compliance with international law".

Quote: "It means it's not a confiscation of the frozen assets, but we can use it as an advance on Russian reparations."

More details: He stated that "this is in compliance with international law".

Quote: "Number two is we need to have this guaranteed by the EU budget and work also with other G7 members on the financial guarantee… So we need to have the financial guarantee from member states, from the MFF, and from G7 countries."

More details: Haddad added that the question of guarantees "is what leads to some of our partners like Belgium being worried, and we understand and we hear this".

Quote: "And finally, this needs to come with a strict principle of European preference, which is that if we have this loan, this reparation loan, it needs to support also acquisition and procurement within the European defence industry and a strong cooperation between the European defence industry and the Ukrainian defence industry."

Background:

• It was reported earlier that the European Commission estimated that in 2026, Ukraine will require more than €71 billion in external financing, of which over €51 billion would go to military needs.
• The EU's plan for a "reparations loan" using Russian assets has stalled over concerns raised by Belgium, where much of the Russian holdings in the EU are located and which fears legal risks that could appear due to this initiative.
• However, the EU stated that the issue of using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine remains on the agenda, and a final decision will be made in December 2025.
• The European Commission has also said that the United Kingdom and Canada can offer their own "reparations loans" to Ukraine.

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