No quick EU path to give Ukraine profits on sanctioned Russian assets

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union's executive is due to approve next week a legal proposal on using proceeds from Russian assets frozen under sanctions, but doubts in France, Germany and Belgium mean Ukraine would not get the money anytime soon, officials and diplomatic sources said.

The draft law is expected on Dec. 12, two days before the year's final summit of the EU's 27 national leaders at which billions of much-needed budgetary and military aid for Kyiv are at stake, as well as advancing Ukraine's membership bid.