đŸ”— Share this article Moscow Hits Back at Europe's Scheme to Lend Immobilized Russian Assets to Ukraine Kyiv remains running out of cash to keep going its military and economy afloat, after nearly four years of Russia's full-scale war. From the EU's perspective, the answer to addressing Kyiv's budget hole of €135.7bn for the coming 24 months lies in frozen Russian assets held by Belgian bank Euroclear, and Brussels aim to sign that off at their EU leaders' conference next week. Authorities in Russia warn the EU plan would be an confiscation, and Russia's central bank declared on Friday it was initiating legal action against Euroclear in a Moscow court even before a conclusive plan is made. 'Just' to Employ Moscow's Funds, Say European and Ukrainian Officials All told, Russia has approximately €210bn of its assets blocked in the EU, and €185bn of that is managed by Euroclear. Brussels and Kyiv argue that those funds should be used to restore what Russia has laid waste to: The European Commission calls it a "reconstruction loan" and has devised a plan to prop up Ukraine's economy amounting to €90bn. "It is appropriate that Moscow's blocked funds should be used to rebuild what Russia has devastated – and that that capital then becomes Ukraine's," states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the assets will "allow Ukraine to protect itself successfully against subsequent Russian attacks". The legal move by Moscow was anticipated in Brussels. But it is not only Moscow that is dissatisfied. Belgium is anxious it will be saddled with an massive bill if it all goes wrong, and Euroclear chief executive ValĂ©rie Urbain says using the assets could "disrupt the global financial architecture". Euroclear also has an approximate €16-17bn immobilised in Russia. Belgium's PM Bart de Wever has given Brussels a series of "pragmatic, fair, and legitimate conditions" before he will agree to the reparations plan, and he has left open the possibility of legal action if it "poses significant risks" for his country. The Details of the EU's Plan? Brussels is under pressure before next Thursday's summit to finalize a compromise that Belgium can support. Until now the EU has avoided using the frozen capital directly but for the past year has paid the "extraordinary revenues" from them to Ukraine. In 2024 that amounted to €3.7bn. From a legal standpoint, using the interest is deemed less risky as Russia is sanctioned and the earnings are not Moscow's sovereign assets. But global military support for Ukraine has slipped dramatically in 2025, and Europe has struggled to compensate for the deficit resulting from the US decision to largely cease funding Ukraine under President Donald Trump. There are presently two EU plans seeking to furnishing Ukraine with €90bn, to pay for two-thirds of its budgetary necessities. Option one is to borrow the funds on the markets, guaranteed by the EU budget as a collateral. This is Belgium's favored solution but it demands a consensus by EU leaders and that would be problematic when Budapest and Bratislava are against funding Ukraine's military. The alternative is loaning Ukraine cash from the Russian assets, which were initially held in securities but have now largely been converted into cash. That funding is owned by Euroclear held in the European Central Bank. The EU's executive acknowledges Belgium has justified fears and claims it is confident it has resolved them. The proposal is for Belgium to be shielded with a guarantee applying to all the €210bn of Russian assets in the EU. Should Euroclear incur losses of its own assets in Russia, that would be offset from assets belonging to Russia's own settlement agency which are in the EU. In the event that Russia took legal action against Belgium itself, any judgment by a Russian court would not be enforced 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. Heretofore they have had to vote by consensus every six months to continue the freeze, which could have meant a constant risk to Belgium. The EU ambassadors are expected to use an extraordinary measure under Article 122 of the EU Treaties so the assets stay blocked as long as an "clear risk to the economic interests of the union" continues. Why Belgium is Remains Convinced Brussels is insistent it remains a strong supporter of Ukraine, but perceives regulatory pitfalls in the plan and worries about being shouldering the fallout if things go wrong. A usually divided political landscape in this case has united behind Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who is under pressure from European colleagues. "Belgium has a modest-sized economy. Belgian GDP is approximately €565bn – imagine if it would need to carry a €185bn bill," says Veerle Colaert, expert in financial law at KU Leuven University. While the EU might be able to obtain adequate assurances for the loan itself, Belgium is concerned about an further exposure of being subject to extra fines or liabilities. Prof Colaert also believes the demand for Euroclear to issue credit to the EU would contravene EU banking regulations. "Lenders need to comply with capital and liquidity requirements and shouldn't make one enormous loan. Now the EU is telling Euroclear to do exactly that. "Why do we have these bank rules? It's because we want banks to be stable. And if things fail it would fall to Belgium to save Euroclear. That's another reason why it's so crucial for Belgium to secure absolute assurances for Euroclear." EU Leaders Facing Strain from Multiple Fronts The situation is urgent, warn seven EU member states including those closest to Russia such as the Baltics, Finland and Poland. They argue the proposal to use Russian funds is "the economically realistic and practically possible solution". "This is a crucial test for us," says leading German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. "Should we not succeed, I don't know what we'll do afterwards. That's why we have to reach an agreement in a week's time". Although Russia is adamant its money should not be accessed, there are further worries among EU officials that the US may want to use Russia's frozen billions differently, as part of its own peace initiative. Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is coordinating with Europe and the US on a rebuilding fund, but he is also mindful the US has been engaging with Russia about future co-operation. 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 running out of cash to keep going its military and economy afloat, after nearly four years of Russia's full-scale war. From the EU's perspective, the answer to addressing Kyiv's budget hole of €135.7bn for the coming 24 months lies in frozen Russian assets held by Belgian bank Euroclear, and Brussels aim to sign that off at their EU leaders' conference next week. Authorities in Russia warn the EU plan would be an confiscation, and Russia's central bank declared on Friday it was initiating legal action against Euroclear in a Moscow court even before a conclusive plan is made. 'Just' to Employ Moscow's Funds, Say European and Ukrainian Officials All told, Russia has approximately €210bn of its assets blocked in the EU, and €185bn of that is managed by Euroclear. Brussels and Kyiv argue that those funds should be used to restore what Russia has laid waste to: The European Commission calls it a "reconstruction loan" and has devised a plan to prop up Ukraine's economy amounting to €90bn. "It is appropriate that Moscow's blocked funds should be used to rebuild what Russia has devastated – and that that capital then becomes Ukraine's," states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the assets will "allow Ukraine to protect itself successfully against subsequent Russian attacks". The legal move by Moscow was anticipated in Brussels. But it is not only Moscow that is dissatisfied. Belgium is anxious it will be saddled with an massive bill if it all goes wrong, and Euroclear chief executive Valérie Urbain says using the assets could "disrupt the global financial architecture". Euroclear also has an approximate €16-17bn immobilised in Russia. Belgium's PM Bart de Wever has given Brussels a series of "pragmatic, fair, and legitimate conditions" before he will agree to the reparations plan, and he has left open the possibility of legal action if it "poses significant risks" for his country. The Details of the EU's Plan? Brussels is under pressure before next Thursday's summit to finalize a compromise that Belgium can support. Until now the EU has avoided using the frozen capital directly but for the past year has paid the "extraordinary revenues" from them to Ukraine. In 2024 that amounted to €3.7bn. From a legal standpoint, using the interest is deemed less risky as Russia is sanctioned and the earnings are not Moscow's sovereign assets. But global military support for Ukraine has slipped dramatically in 2025, and Europe has struggled to compensate for the deficit resulting from the US decision to largely cease funding Ukraine under President Donald Trump. There are presently two EU plans seeking to furnishing Ukraine with €90bn, to pay for two-thirds of its budgetary necessities. Option one is to borrow the funds on the markets, guaranteed by the EU budget as a collateral. This is Belgium's favored solution but it demands a consensus by EU leaders and that would be problematic when Budapest and Bratislava are against funding Ukraine's military. The alternative is loaning Ukraine cash from the Russian assets, which were initially held in securities but have now largely been converted into cash. That funding is owned by Euroclear held in the European Central Bank. The EU's executive acknowledges Belgium has justified fears and claims it is confident it has resolved them. The proposal is for Belgium to be shielded with a guarantee applying to all the €210bn of Russian assets in the EU. Should Euroclear incur losses of its own assets in Russia, that would be offset from assets belonging to Russia's own settlement agency which are in the EU. In the event that Russia took legal action against Belgium itself, any judgment by a Russian court would not be enforced 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. Heretofore they have had to vote by consensus every six months to continue the freeze, which could have meant a constant risk to Belgium. The EU ambassadors are expected to use an extraordinary measure under Article 122 of the EU Treaties so the assets stay blocked as long as an "clear risk to the economic interests of the union" continues. Why Belgium is Remains Convinced Brussels is insistent it remains a strong supporter of Ukraine, but perceives regulatory pitfalls in the plan and worries about being shouldering the fallout if things go wrong. A usually divided political landscape in this case has united behind Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who is under pressure from European colleagues. "Belgium has a modest-sized economy. Belgian GDP is approximately €565bn – imagine if it would need to carry a €185bn bill," says Veerle Colaert, expert in financial law at KU Leuven University. While the EU might be able to obtain adequate assurances for the loan itself, Belgium is concerned about an further exposure of being subject to extra fines or liabilities. Prof Colaert also believes the demand for Euroclear to issue credit to the EU would contravene EU banking regulations. "Lenders need to comply with capital and liquidity requirements and shouldn't make one enormous loan. Now the EU is telling Euroclear to do exactly that. "Why do we have these bank rules? It's because we want banks to be stable. And if things fail it would fall to Belgium to save Euroclear. That's another reason why it's so crucial for Belgium to secure absolute assurances for Euroclear." EU Leaders Facing Strain from Multiple Fronts The situation is urgent, warn seven EU member states including those closest to Russia such as the Baltics, Finland and Poland. They argue the proposal to use Russian funds is "the economically realistic and practically possible solution". "This is a crucial test for us," says leading German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. "Should we not succeed, I don't know what we'll do afterwards. That's why we have to reach an agreement in a week's time". Although Russia is adamant its money should not be accessed, there are further worries among EU officials that the US may want to use Russia's frozen billions differently, as part of its own peace initiative. Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is coordinating with Europe and the US on a rebuilding fund, but he is also mindful the US has been engaging with Russia about future co-operation. 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