Ursula von der Leyen has outlined alternatives to a reparations loan to fund Ukraine's budgetary and military needs as Belgium plays hardball over the bold scheme to use the immobilised assets of the Russian Central Bank. The options include raising debt in the markets backed by the EU budget and bilateral agreements for individual borrowing at the national level. These would be considered if the effort to issue a reparations loan pegged to the Russian assets falls flat. Von der Leyen said the