🔗 Share this article Moscow Retaliates at Europe's Proposal to Lend Immobilized Russian Assets to Kyiv Kyiv remains depleting its cash to keep going its military and economy, after almost four years of Russia's full-scale war. From the EU's perspective, the solution to addressing Ukraine's budget hole of €135.7bn for the next two years rests with frozen Russian assets held by Belgian bank Euroclear, and Brussels hope to finalize the plan at their EU leaders' conference next week. Russian officials state the EU plan would be an act of theft, and Moscow's monetary authority declared on Friday it was suing Euroclear in a Moscow court prior to a conclusive plan is made. 'Appropriate' to Employ Russia's Assets, Argue European and Ukrainian Officials Overall, Russia has roughly €210bn of its funds blocked in the EU, and €185bn of that is managed by Euroclear. Brussels and Kyiv maintain that those funds should be used to reconstruct what Russia has laid waste to: EU officials calls it a "reconstruction loan" and has come up with a plan to bolster Ukraine's economy to the tune of €90bn. "It is only just that the assets frozen from Russia should be used to reconstruct what Russia has destroyed – and that money then becomes Ukraine's," states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Chancellor Friedrich Merz argues the assets will "allow Ukraine to shield itself effectively against subsequent Russian attacks". The legal move by Moscow was anticipated in Brussels. But it is not only Moscow that is dissatisfied. The Belgian government is concerned it will be saddled with an huge bill if it all goes wrong, and Euroclear chief executive Valérie Urbain argues using the assets could "disrupt the global financial architecture". Euroclear also has an approximate €16-17bn frozen in Russia. The leader of Belgium Bart de Wever has set the EU a series of "logical, sensible, and warranted conditions" before he will agree to the reconstruction loan scheme, and he has refused to rule out legal action if it "carries significant risks" for his country. The Details of the EU's Strategy? European Union officials is working to the wire prior to next Thursday's summit to finalize a arrangement that Belgium can agree to. So far the EU has held off using the assets themselves directly but since last year has transferred the "extraordinary revenues" from them to Ukraine. In 2024 that was €3.7bn. From a legal standpoint, using the revenue is seen as less risky as Russia is subject to sanctions and the returns are not property of the Russian state. But global military support for Ukraine has declined sharply in 2025, and Europe has found it difficult to make up the deficit resulting from the US decision to virtually halt funding Ukraine under President Donald Trump. There are at the moment two EU options designed to providing Ukraine with €90bn, to pay for two-thirds of its budgetary necessities. One is to secure the capital on the markets, guaranteed by the EU budget as a collateral. This is Belgium's preferred option but it needs a consensus by EU leaders and that would be challenging when two member states are against funding Ukraine's military. This makes the other option loaning Ukraine cash from the Russian assets, which were originally held in financial instruments but have now largely matured into cash. That money is owned by Euroclear held in the European Central Bank. The European Commission recognizes Belgium has justified fears and states it is convinced it has dealt with them. The proposal is for Belgium to be shielded with a guarantee encompassing all the €210bn of Russian assets in the EU. Should Euroclear incur losses of its own assets in Russia, the loss would be compensated from assets belonging to Russia's own settlement agency which are in the EU. Should Russia went after Belgium itself, any judgment by a Russian court would not be recognized in the EU. In a significant move, EU ambassadors are set to approve on Friday to freeze indefinitely Russia's central bank assets held in Europe indefinitely. Until now they have had to vote unanimously every six months to continue the freeze, which could have meant a repeated risk to Belgium. The EU ambassadors are expected to use an emergency clause under Article 122 of the EU Treaties so the assets remain frozen as long as an "clear risk to the economic interests of the union" continues. The Reasons Belgium is Not Yet On Board Belgium is insistent it remains a committed partner of Ukraine, but identifies juridical dangers in the plan and is concerned about being shouldering the fallout if things fail. A typically partisan political environment in this case has come together in support of Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who is being pressured from European colleagues. "Belgium is a small economy. Belgian GDP is around €565bn – imagine if it would need to carry a €185bn bill," says Veerle Colaert, academic specializing in financial regulation at KU Leuven University. Although the EU might be able to arrange enough assurances for the loan itself, Belgium is concerned about an further exposure of being subject to extra legal costs. Prof Colaert also argues the demand for Euroclear to provide a loan to the EU would violate EU banking regulations. "Banks need to adhere to capital and liquidity requirements and shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket. Now the EU is instructing Euroclear to do exactly that. "Why do we have these bank rules? It's because we want banks to be solvent. And if things fail it would become the responsibility of Belgium to bail out Euroclear. That's a further cause why it's so vital for Belgium to obtain ironclad assurances for Euroclear." EU Leaders In a Difficult Position from Every Direction Time is of the essence, warn seven EU member states including those neighboring Russia such as the Baltics, Finland and Poland. They believe the scheme involving immobilized capital is "the economically realistic and politically realistic solution". "It's a matter of destiny for us," states leading German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. "Should we not succeed, I don't know what we'll do subsequently. That's why we have to succeed in a week's time". While Russia is unyielding its money should not be used, there are additional apprehensions among EU officials that the US may want to deploy Russia's frozen billions differently, as part of its own peace initiative. Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is in discussions with Europe and the US on a recovery fund, but he is also mindful the US has been talking to Russia about potential collaboration. A preliminary version of the US peace plan mentioned $100bn of Russia's frozen assets being used by the US for reconstruction, with the US {taking|receiving
Kyiv remains depleting its cash to keep going its military and economy, after almost four years of Russia's full-scale war. From the EU's perspective, the solution to addressing Ukraine's budget hole of €135.7bn for the next two years rests with frozen Russian assets held by Belgian bank Euroclear, and Brussels hope to finalize the plan at their EU leaders' conference next week. Russian officials state the EU plan would be an act of theft, and Moscow's monetary authority declared on Friday it was suing Euroclear in a Moscow court prior to a conclusive plan is made. 'Appropriate' to Employ Russia's Assets, Argue European and Ukrainian Officials Overall, Russia has roughly €210bn of its funds blocked in the EU, and €185bn of that is managed by Euroclear. Brussels and Kyiv maintain that those funds should be used to reconstruct what Russia has laid waste to: EU officials calls it a "reconstruction loan" and has come up with a plan to bolster Ukraine's economy to the tune of €90bn. "It is only just that the assets frozen from Russia should be used to reconstruct what Russia has destroyed – and that money then becomes Ukraine's," states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Chancellor Friedrich Merz argues the assets will "allow Ukraine to shield itself effectively against subsequent Russian attacks". The legal move by Moscow was anticipated in Brussels. But it is not only Moscow that is dissatisfied. The Belgian government is concerned it will be saddled with an huge bill if it all goes wrong, and Euroclear chief executive Valérie Urbain argues using the assets could "disrupt the global financial architecture". Euroclear also has an approximate €16-17bn frozen in Russia. The leader of Belgium Bart de Wever has set the EU a series of "logical, sensible, and warranted conditions" before he will agree to the reconstruction loan scheme, and he has refused to rule out legal action if it "carries significant risks" for his country. The Details of the EU's Strategy? European Union officials is working to the wire prior to next Thursday's summit to finalize a arrangement that Belgium can agree to. So far the EU has held off using the assets themselves directly but since last year has transferred the "extraordinary revenues" from them to Ukraine. In 2024 that was €3.7bn. From a legal standpoint, using the revenue is seen as less risky as Russia is subject to sanctions and the returns are not property of the Russian state. But global military support for Ukraine has declined sharply in 2025, and Europe has found it difficult to make up the deficit resulting from the US decision to virtually halt funding Ukraine under President Donald Trump. There are at the moment two EU options designed to providing Ukraine with €90bn, to pay for two-thirds of its budgetary necessities. One is to secure the capital on the markets, guaranteed by the EU budget as a collateral. This is Belgium's preferred option but it needs a consensus by EU leaders and that would be challenging when two member states are against funding Ukraine's military. This makes the other option loaning Ukraine cash from the Russian assets, which were originally held in financial instruments but have now largely matured into cash. That money is owned by Euroclear held in the European Central Bank. The European Commission recognizes Belgium has justified fears and states it is convinced it has dealt with them. The proposal is for Belgium to be shielded with a guarantee encompassing all the €210bn of Russian assets in the EU. Should Euroclear incur losses of its own assets in Russia, the loss would be compensated from assets belonging to Russia's own settlement agency which are in the EU. Should Russia went after Belgium itself, any judgment by a Russian court would not be recognized in the EU. In a significant move, EU ambassadors are set to approve on Friday to freeze indefinitely Russia's central bank assets held in Europe indefinitely. Until now they have had to vote unanimously every six months to continue the freeze, which could have meant a repeated risk to Belgium. The EU ambassadors are expected to use an emergency clause under Article 122 of the EU Treaties so the assets remain frozen as long as an "clear risk to the economic interests of the union" continues. The Reasons Belgium is Not Yet On Board Belgium is insistent it remains a committed partner of Ukraine, but identifies juridical dangers in the plan and is concerned about being shouldering the fallout if things fail. A typically partisan political environment in this case has come together in support of Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who is being pressured from European colleagues. "Belgium is a small economy. Belgian GDP is around €565bn – imagine if it would need to carry a €185bn bill," says Veerle Colaert, academic specializing in financial regulation at KU Leuven University. Although the EU might be able to arrange enough assurances for the loan itself, Belgium is concerned about an further exposure of being subject to extra legal costs. Prof Colaert also argues the demand for Euroclear to provide a loan to the EU would violate EU banking regulations. "Banks need to adhere to capital and liquidity requirements and shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket. Now the EU is instructing Euroclear to do exactly that. "Why do we have these bank rules? It's because we want banks to be solvent. And if things fail it would become the responsibility of Belgium to bail out Euroclear. That's a further cause why it's so vital for Belgium to obtain ironclad assurances for Euroclear." EU Leaders In a Difficult Position from Every Direction Time is of the essence, warn seven EU member states including those neighboring Russia such as the Baltics, Finland and Poland. They believe the scheme involving immobilized capital is "the economically realistic and politically realistic solution". "It's a matter of destiny for us," states leading German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. "Should we not succeed, I don't know what we'll do subsequently. That's why we have to succeed in a week's time". While Russia is unyielding its money should not be used, there are additional apprehensions among EU officials that the US may want to deploy Russia's frozen billions differently, as part of its own peace initiative. Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is in discussions with Europe and the US on a recovery fund, but he is also mindful the US has been talking to Russia about potential collaboration. A preliminary version of the US peace plan mentioned $100bn of Russia's frozen assets being used by the US for reconstruction, with the US {taking|receiving