UK had indicated support for using frozen Russian assets

December 22 ------ Ahead of the late-night talks in Brussels, the UK government had indicated it was prepared to share the risks with European allies of using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

What we've ended up with instead, as we've been reporting overnight, is €90bn for Kyiv via an interest-free loan from the EU. Belgium had been the most concerned about using Russian assets, as most of those frozen since the war began are kept there, and it feared potential future reprisals from Russia.

Sir Keir Starmer's official spokesman was repeatedly asked if the government was willing to share the risk of unlocking frozen Russian assets for use in Ukraine.

"I think it's evident within the government's actions that what we want to see is those immobilized assets used to support Ukraine," he said. "We believe delivering these funds sends a very clear signal to Putin that he cannot outlast the support of the UK and our allies, that is what we remain focused on."

Source: news.sky.com