President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that an EU decision to provide a reparations loan for Ukraine would have an impact beyond the Ukrainian issue alone.

Source: Zelenskyy's speech at a meeting of the European Council in Brussels, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy began his speech by arguing that providing Ukraine with funding from frozen Russian assets is legally sound and morally right.

Quote: "Just like authorities confiscate money from drug traffickers and take weapons away from terrorists, Russia's assets must be used to defend against Russian aggression and to build what was destroyed, exactly, destroyed by Russian attacks. It's moral. It's fair. And it's legal – confirmed by the expertise of many, many professionals."

Details: Meanwhile, he pointed out that failure to take such a decision would have negative consequences for Europe itself.

"And if there is no European decision now, then all the words we've heard for years – about our European solidarity, autonomy, and Europe's ability to defend justice globally – will be meaningless. If this isn't done now, the Russians – and not only them – will feel that Europe can be defeated. Defeat – that's definitely not what Europeans need," Zelenskyy said.

He also noted that he is aware of Russia's attempts to intimidate EU member states.

"But we should not be afraid of these threats – we should be afraid of Europe being weak," the president added.

Background:

• Zelenskyy earlier warned partners that if Ukraine does not receive funding, Europe will have to pay in blood.
• Western media sources said that discussions on this issue at the summit are moving in the right direction.

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