Decision time in Brussels: Will EU ignore threats and seize frozen Russian assets?
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
Some brand it "the most crucial EU summit" since the financial crisis of 2008; a last chance to stave off bankruptcy for a Ukrainian government that might run out of money by the end of spring. But where will the money come from?
With Vladimir Putin insisting that it's not "European pigs" that will stop Russia from liberating its "historic lands", and with the US actively supporting pro-Moscow parties that continue to surge in polling across the continent, leaders of the 27-member bloc must now make a choice: seize €210 billion in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine and run the risk of legal liability for those billions down the road; borrow on the bond markets, which Germany and other fiscally frugal northern European states reject out of hand; or cave, as a small but vocal minority of leaders would prefer.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Charles Wente, Ilayda Habip & Jean-Vincent Russo
