Afrasianet - Britain's government has said it will not act unilaterally to seize Russia's frozen sovereign assets, following the failure of European Union leaders to reach an agreement at their summit in Brussels.

The Financial Times quoted a British government representative as saying: "We will not work without international partners" and added that London "will continue to work closely with the G7 and the EU on the issue of funding Ukraine."

Earlier reports said the UK was ready to allocate £8 billion ($10.6 billion) to support Ukraine at the expense of Russian assets, but it requires collective action.

Alternatively, the newspaper revealed a British decision to provide $2 billion in credit guarantees to Ukraine through the World Bank, as early as 2026 to meet its "emergency financial needs."

London also reiterated its previous commitment to allocate £3 billion ($4 billion) annually to support Ukraine militarily until 2030.

Britain's stance came after the EU summit in Brussels ended on Friday morning after a marathon 17-hour debate, without overcoming opposition from Belgium (which hosts the bulk of the assets) and other countries to reach an agreement on expropriation.

Instead, European leaders were forced to agree on an alternative plan of securing €90 billion in funding for Ukraine during 2026-2027, which would be raised through a syndicated loan, with Ukraine exempt from interest and repaying only if it received "full reparations" from Russia.

The European plan faced formal rejection from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to participate in the loan mechanism. The European Commission has also previously acknowledged that Ukraine is unable to repay, which in practice means that funding will be diverted to direct grants.

Putin: Europe's attempts to steal Russian assets will not be liked by any country in the world and will have repercussions

On this topic, President Vladimir Putin stressed that attempts to seize Russian assets in the European Union are not covert theft, but rather overt robbery that undermines confidence in the eurozone.

He said in a direct dialogue with citizens: "Many countries have bonds in European financial companies and the looting of Russian assets is a declaration of the unreliability of these companies, which is being watched by the whole world."

He stressed that the seizure of Russian assets would not only be a blow to the EU's image, but would undermine confidence in the eurozone.

He stressed that Russia will protect and defend its assets first and foremost through the courts, adding: "Russian assets abroad must be returned. Russia will try to find a judicial body that is not subject to political decisions to protect its frozen assets."

He stressed that seizing Russian assets is not easy and looting them in the EU could have fundamental consequences for the international financial system.

He pointed out that France's public debt represents 120% of GDP, and granting loans to Ukraine, even if guaranteed by frozen Russian assets, adds a burden on France's burdened budget.

He added that lending to Ukraine with Russian assets collateral will increase the debt of EU countries, at a time when these countries are already suffering from problems in their budgets, noting that "there are a number of countries that are skeptical of the security of their assets in Europe."

"Such actions will not appeal to any country, including Islamic countries that reject homosexuality and deposit their origins in Europe," he said.

"The looting of Russian assets means that financial companies and European countries have the right to steal any money from any country they don't like," he added.

"failure, division and political collapse." EU summit concludes without confiscation of Russian assets

The EU summit, which began on December 18 in Brussels early, concluded after removing the issue of confiscation of frozen Russian assets from its agenda.  

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced upon her arrival at the meeting that EU leaders would not be able to leave until the issue of Ukraine's financing was resolved, one of whose options was to confiscate Russian assets under the cover of the "compensation loan" scheme.

However, the leaders ended the summit on the same evening, deciding to channel a €90 billion interest-free loan to Ukraine via the EU's collective loan mechanism, while keeping Russian assets frozen indefinitely.

A number of international media outlets described the summit's decision not to proceed with the expropriation as a "failure" and a "growing division" within the European organization.

The Euroactiv website said that the lack of a desired decision on Russian assets was a "political blow" primarily to von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, writing: "And what will Russia take away from this? I talked a lot and confidently, but she didn't do anything."

Politico magazine also described the decision as a failure of Mertz and von der Leyen, noting that it was "not the decision that Germany and the European Commission sought before the summit." It also published a separate article describing how the failure showed "once again the growing division in society."

The New York Times was more severe, calling the situation a "political collapse" for European politicians, and reporting that "the failure of the [Russian] frozen assets plan has become a political collapse for both German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen."

The German newspaper Handelsblatt noted that the summit dealt a "blow to Meretz's credibility," as the leaders were unable to make the two main decisions he was promoting, and that his ultimatum was "ignored."

It explained that the repayment of future loans from Russian assets is "in no way guaranteed," and that the summit simply "postponed" the resolution of the problem.

The Financial Times quoted European diplomats as saying that France and Italy played a key role in discussing the plan, and that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had become the "killer" of the project.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Meloni expressed doubts about their parliamentarians' support for the confiscation. A diplomat said the complexity of the plan "confused EU leaders, even those who supported the initiative", and likened the presentation of the plan to "feel like an ambush".

The development follows Russia's central bank filing a lawsuit against Belgian platform Euroclear, which holds about 180 billion euros of frozen assets, worth 18.2 trillion rubles, and warned that any decision to seize "undermines the fundamental pillar of the functioning of the international financial system."

"Attempted robbery".. Putin comments on EU backtracking on use of Russian assets

Russian President Vladimir Putin affirms Moscow's adherence to its conditions to end the war in Ukraine, vowing to defend its interests legally after Brussels reversed its plan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the EU of trying to "steal in broad daylight" of frozen Russian assets, while stressing that he had not made any concessions on its terms to end the war in Ukraine.

In his first comment on the EU's decision to roll back a plan to use frozen Russian assets to support a loan to Ukraine, Putin vowed to defend Moscow's interests in court, arguing that the European plan failed because it would have led to "serious consequences for thieves," according to Reuters.

The Russian president said that the European Union's retreat from the plan came for fear of serious repercussions on its status as a safeguard for safeguarding assets, stressing that its implementation would have undermined confidence in the eurozone and prompted several countries, especially oil-producing countries, to reconsider holding their gold and foreign currency reserves within Europe.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Putin said he did not see any real willingness from Kyiv to accept a peace deal, pointing only to "some indications" that it was ready to engage in dialogue. He stressed that Russia continues to declare its readiness and desire to end the conflict peacefully "based on the principles" he has previously presented, foremost of which is addressing the "root causes" of the crisis.

Putin had previously announced conditions, including Ukraine's abandonment of its bid to join NATO and its complete withdrawal from four regions that Moscow says are its territory, conditions that Kyiv rejects.

The Russian president's remarks came hours after EU leaders decided to back down from a plan to use frozen Russian assets, instead agreeing to provide a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine to finance its military and economic needs over the next two years.

According to the agreement, Russia's frozen assets, estimated at 210 billion euros, most of which are held in Belgium, will not be used directly to finance the loan, amid reservations expressed by countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, without hindering the approval of the package.

On the other hand, the Russian president's special envoy for economic and investment affairs, Kirill Dmitriev, welcomed the European summit's decision not to use the frozen Russian assets, describing the withdrawal as a "victory for law and rationality," according to Reuters.