Putin upbeat after EU 'robbers' fail to agree frozen asset loan for Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday struck an upbeat tone after the EU failed to agree on seizing Russian assets to fund a loan to Ukraine, instead deciding to issue a €90 billion loan ($105.35 billion) backed by the bloc's common budget.

Speaking at his end-of-year press conference, Mr ⁠Putin was in defiant mode over Ukraine. The ‍EU plan had ⁠failed ‌because there would ⁠have been “grave consequences for ⁠the robbers,” he said adding that Russia would respond to an attack on a Russian controlled tanker in the Mediterranean.

During the press conference, Mr Putin was asked about the incoming news that “another of our tankers in the Mediterranean Sea has been attacked”.

Ukraine said it had hit a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker with aerial drones in neutral waters of the Mediterranean. This was Kyiv's first strike there in the war that began in February 2022.

“This is done, among other things, with a pragmatic goal – to increase insurance premiums," he said. "But this will never lead to the expected result, will not disrupt supplies, and, in the end, will only create an additional threat. A response from our country will follow.

“There will always be a response from our side.”

The Russian leader was speaking hours after Europe abandoned efforst to take over €210 billion ($246 billion) worth of Russian assets held in the EU after Belgium, which holds most of the assets, warned of a costly legal backlash.

Echoing warnings by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever that Moscow would have probably fought back in Russian-friendly jurisdictions, Mr Putin said: “Above all else, we will defend our interests, ​primarily in the courts. We will try ‍to find a jurisdiction that will be independent of political decisions.”

Commenting on continuing US-mediated talks to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine started by Russia's full-scale invasion, Mr Putin said: “We are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully … by addressing the root causes that led to this crisis.”

Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever, centre. AP

These include, according to him, Ukraine's desire to join Nato and the view that Ukraine is culturally inseparable from Russia – views that are strongly rejected by Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently offered to drop Nato accession demands in exchange for strong US security guarantees.

This has reportedly been offered by the US but talks on territorial concessions remain a sticking point. Ukrainian and US delegations are scheduled to hold new talks on Friday and Saturday in America.

'Significant support'

Mr Putin was speaking just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time for Europe to start engaging with Russia again. “I believe that it's in our interest as Europeans and Ukrainians to find the right framework to re-engage this discussion,” Mr Macron said. Europeans should find the means to do so “in the coming weeks”, he added.

After talks that ended in the early hours of the morning, the EU's 2