Norway reluctant to secure EU loan to Ukraine on its own

Norway is not ruling out participating in plans to use frozen Russian assets to provide a billion-pound loan to Ukraine, but does not want to shoulder the burden of guaranteeing it alone.

Whether Norway can contribute depends on what the EU proposes, Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told broadcaster NRK on Wednesday ahead of talks with the European Commission in Brussels.

There is a proposal that his country should act as guarantor for the entire amount, the former NATO secretary general said, but he added that this is not currently planned.

The EU has been wrestling for months with how to use frozen Russian money to help Ukraine.

The plans, which are being pushed forward primarily by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, envisage using Russian central bank money frozen in the EU to give Ukraine loans of up to €140 billion ($162 billion).

Russia would only get the money back if it paid reparations after ending its war against Ukraine. In the event that the frozen Russian money had to be released unexpectedly, the EU states – and possibly Norway as well – would provide guarantees.

Agreement on the issue has so far failed in the EU due to Belgium, which is a key player in the issue because Russian funds are currently managed there by the company Euroclear.

Norway is not a member of the EU, but it is a close partner. There is discussion about whether the Ukraine loan could be secured through the financially strong Norwegian oil fund, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. However, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has now ruled this out.