Today and Friday: Live Videos on the Russian Asset Loan and the End-of-Year EU Summit
Join me, Hugo Dixon, and Dave Keating for the latest on a crucial week for Europe and Ukraine
The New York Times writes that “this week is pivotal for Ukraine, and for Europe’s voice in its future.” On Thursday, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss a financing plan to use frozen Russian assets held in Belgium to fund Ukraine’s government for the next two years; Kyiv will start to run out of money in the spring. As the Trump Administration seeks to pressure Kyiv into making territorial concessions to Russia in a bid to end the war quickly, the €210 billion frozen asset loan would put Kyiv in a stronger negotiating position; it would ensure that Ukraine has enough cash to pay civilian salaries and finance its war effort. Belgium, however, has voiced strong opposition to the plan, and Bulgaria, Italy, and Malta have also voiced concerns.
At Public Sphere, I will be doing two live videos on this crucial week.
Today at 5pm CEST/11am EST, I will be speaking with Hugo Dixon, who is commentator-at-large for Reuters and a journalist, political entrepreneur and philosopher. He is one of the creators of the frozen asset loan plan. We will be talking about the frozen asset loan and how it works.
Friday at 1pm CEST/7am EST, I will be speaking again with Brussels-based journalist Dave Keating, who covers the European Union and will be covering the end-of-year summit. He is the author of the Substack newsletter Gulf Stream Blues and a new book, The Owned Continent: How to Free Europe from American Military, Cultural and Economic Dependence. We will also discuss the latest on the loan plan as well as Europe’s attempts to get a seat at the negotiating table as the Trump Administration has largely frozen out European leaders and portrayed the EU as something of an adversary in its National Security Strategy.
To join either of these livestreams, download the Substack App for iOS or Android, or you can find them at Substack.com on your feed.
If you can’t make them -- and I realize it’s last minute and it’s the last full work week of 2025 😦 -- there will be recorded audio and video after.