Putin says loans for Ukraine will impact EU budgets

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the European Union of the attempted “robbery” of Russian state reserves, which he claimed had failed for the time being.

He said that Russia would continue to defend its interests and seek politically independent courts that would grant the claim for the return of the state billions frozen in the EU. “Whatever they steal, at some point it must be returned,” Putin said on Friday.

Putin made these remarks in response to a question about the consequences of the overnight EU-level decision to support Ukraine through the issuance of billions in loans. The loans had led to further indebtedness of EU countries such as France, Putin said.

At the same time, Putin reiterated that the EU’s pursuit of using Russian state funds could shatter trust in the international financial markets.

Putin was responding to questions from journalists and citizens during his annual televised Q&A session broadcast on state television in Moscow.

The EU agreed overnight to support Ukraine with €90 billion ($105.4 billion) through interest-free loans. However, the plan by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to use Russian state funds frozen in the EU for the support of Ukraine failed.