Brussels – Warsaw: Europe and the Arabs

The Russian Embassy in Belgium criticized statements made by Defense Minister Theo Francken, who said in an interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows that if nuclear weapons are used, "Moscow will be wiped off the map."

In a statement on the embassy's Telegram channel, the embassy described Francken's remarks as "abnormal and dangerous." According to the embassy, ​​these statements constitute "a threat to the future of Europe" and could lead the continent into a new war. "The provocative and irresponsible statements of one of Belgium's most prominent hawks," as Russia calls them, "do not deserve our attention at all, given their completely abnormal nature and total detachment from reality. What they call madness has only gotten worse," according to the Belgian daily newspaper Nieuwsblad.

This comes as the Polish military announced on Wednesday in a message on X that Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian aircraft conducting a reconnaissance mission in international airspace on Tuesday, without a pre-arranged flight plan and with its transponder disabled. The military added: "Polish fighter jets intercepted an Il-20 aircraft conducting a reconnaissance mission in international airspace. The aircraft had no flight plan and its transponder was disabled. It did not violate Polish airspace."

Meanwhile, Ukraine deployed several drones against the Budyonnovsk industrial zone in Russia's Stavropol region on Wednesday. Governor Vladimir Vladimirov announced this via the Telegram messaging app.

According to local authorities, the drone strikes caused no significant damage and no injuries.

This comes as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and leaders of the Nordic countries expressed confidence that an agreement could be reached in December on using frozen Russian assets as a recovery loan for Ukraine, a sentiment clearly expressed at a joint press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated: "I sincerely believe this is the only way forward. I strongly support the idea that Russia should pay for the damage it is inflicting on Ukraine. For me, there is no alternative to a recovery loan." Her Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo, described the use of frozen assets as "the only sensible solution."

None of the government leaders present addressed the question of whether a joint European loan was an option for financing Ukraine in the future, including von der Leyen. Speaking about the use of frozen assets, the Commission president said: "This is a legally sound proposal. Not trivial, but legally sound." Von der Leyen is working on a proposal to use frozen assets of the Russian central bank to support Ukraine's financial stability over the next two years. The proposal involves a €140 billion recovery loan, financed by Russian funds frozen at Euroclear Securities in Brussels. Kyiv would only repay the loan after Russia pays compensation to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever rejected the idea at last week's European summit. He is particularly concerned about the legal and financial consequences for Belgium and is demanding clarification of the legal basis for the entire process. The prime minister is also demanding guarantees that other member states will cover all financial risks. Ultimately, the summit's final conclusions made no mention of the frozen Russian assets. The leaders asked the Commission to propose "options for financial support" as soon as possible so they could reach an agreement at their next summit in December. Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that the leaders "requested possible options on the technical issues, and we will do so." Eurogroup expressed its support for reaching a solution with Belgium.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson concluded, "In this group, you can count on our firm resolve to reach a decision at the European summit in December."