🔗 Share this article Russia Retaliates at the EU's Scheme to Loan Immobilized Russian Cash to Ukraine Kyiv remains facing a severe shortage of funding to keep going its military and economy afloat, after close to 48 months of Russia's full-scale war. In the view of European leaders, the remedy to plugging Ukraine's budget hole of €135.7bn for the next two years is found in frozen Russian assets sitting in Belgian bank Euroclear, and EU leaders hope to give it the green light at their meeting in Brussels next week. Moscow's representatives warn the EU plan would be an illegal seizure, and Moscow's monetary authority declared on Friday it was taking to court Euroclear in a Moscow court prior to a final decision is made. 'Appropriate' to Employ Moscow's Assets, Argue European and Ukrainian Officials In total, Russia has roughly €210bn of its funds blocked in the EU, and €185bn of that is managed by Euroclear. Brussels and Kyiv contend that that capital should be used to restore what Russia has devastated: The European Commission refers to it as a "reparations loan" and has proposed a plan to bolster Ukraine's economy amounting to €90bn. "It is only just that the assets frozen from Russia should be used to rebuild what Russia has destroyed – and that that capital then becomes Ukraine's," says Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Germany's leader Friedrich Merz says the assets will "allow Ukraine to protect itself successfully against subsequent Russian attacks". Russia's court action was anticipated in Brussels. But it is not only Moscow that is unhappy. The Belgian government is concerned it will be left with an enormous bill if it all goes wrong, and Euroclear CEO Valérie Urbain warns using the assets could "destabilise the international financial system". Euroclear also has an approximate €16-17bn immobilised in Russia. Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever has set the EU a series of "rational, reasonable, and justified conditions" before he will agree to the reconstruction loan scheme, and he has not excluded legal action if it "presents significant risks" for his country. The Details of the EU's Plan? European Union officials is working to the wire before next Thursday's summit to agree on a compromise that Belgium can support. Previously the EU has refrained from accessing the principal funds directly but since last year has paid the "extraordinary revenues" from them to Ukraine. In 2024 that was €3.7bn. Legally, using the revenue is deemed safe as Russia is subject to sanctions and the proceeds are not Moscow's sovereign assets. But global military support for Ukraine has slipped dramatically in 2025, and Europe has had trouble trying to make up the gap resulting from the US decision to largely cease funding Ukraine under President Donald Trump. There are presently two EU options seeking to providing Ukraine with €90bn, to finance a large portion of its funding needs. The first is to secure the capital on the markets, guaranteed by the EU budget as a surety. This is Belgium's favored solution but it requires a consensus by EU leaders and that would be problematic when Hungary and Slovakia are against funding Ukraine's military. This makes the other option providing a loan of Ukraine cash from the Moscow's immobilized capital, which were at first held in securities but have now largely turned into cash. That capital is Euroclear property held in the European Central Bank. Brussels' executive arm recognizes Belgium has legitimate concerns and states it is confident it has resolved them. The proposal is for Belgium to be protected with a insurance covering all the €210bn of Russian assets in the EU. If Euroclear suffer a loss of its own assets in Russia, the shortfall would be covered 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 accepted in the EU. As an important step, EU ambassadors are poised to endorse on Friday to freeze indefinitely Russia's central bank assets held in Europe for the foreseeable future. Heretofore they have had to vote unanimously every six months to continue the freeze, which could have meant a ongoing risk to Belgium. The EU ambassadors are set 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 financial well-being of the union" continues. The Reasons Belgium is Not Yet On Board The Belgian government is firm it remains a strong supporter of Ukraine, but identifies juridical dangers in the plan and worries about being shouldering the fallout if things go wrong. A typically fractured political scene in this case has rallied behind Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who is under pressure from fellow EU leaders. "Belgium is a small economy. Belgian GDP is around €565bn – consider if it would need to shoulder a €185bn bill," says Veerle Colaert, expert in financial law at KU Leuven University. Although the EU might be able to arrange enough assurances for the loan itself, Belgium fears an additional danger of being exposed to extra damages or penalties. Prof Colaert also argues the stipulation for Euroclear to provide a loan to the EU would breach EU banking regulations. "Financial institutions need to comply with stability regulations and shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket. Now the EU is telling Euroclear to do exactly that. "What is the purpose of these banking laws? It's because we want banks to be solvent. And if things go wrong it would be up to Belgium to bail out Euroclear. That's another reason why it's so important for Belgium to get 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 closest to Russia such as the Baltics, Finland and Poland. They argue the frozen assets plan is "the most economically realistic and politically realistic solution". "This is a crucial test for us," says leading German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. "If the plan collapses, I don't know what we'll do subsequently. That's why we have to reach an agreement in a week's time". While Russia is adamant its money should not be touched, there are added concerns among European figures that the US may want to use Russia's immobilized billions differently, as part of its own peace plan. Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is working with Europe and the US on a rebuilding fund, but he is also mindful the US has been talking to Russia about possible partnership. An initial document of the US peace plan referred to $100bn of Russia's immobilized capital being used by the US for reconstruction, with the US {taking|receiving
Kyiv remains facing a severe shortage of funding to keep going its military and economy afloat, after close to 48 months of Russia's full-scale war. In the view of European leaders, the remedy to plugging Ukraine's budget hole of €135.7bn for the next two years is found in frozen Russian assets sitting in Belgian bank Euroclear, and EU leaders hope to give it the green light at their meeting in Brussels next week. Moscow's representatives warn the EU plan would be an illegal seizure, and Moscow's monetary authority declared on Friday it was taking to court Euroclear in a Moscow court prior to a final decision is made. 'Appropriate' to Employ Moscow's Assets, Argue European and Ukrainian Officials In total, Russia has roughly €210bn of its funds blocked in the EU, and €185bn of that is managed by Euroclear. Brussels and Kyiv contend that that capital should be used to restore what Russia has devastated: The European Commission refers to it as a "reparations loan" and has proposed a plan to bolster Ukraine's economy amounting to €90bn. "It is only just that the assets frozen from Russia should be used to rebuild what Russia has destroyed – and that that capital then becomes Ukraine's," says Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Germany's leader Friedrich Merz says the assets will "allow Ukraine to protect itself successfully against subsequent Russian attacks". Russia's court action was anticipated in Brussels. But it is not only Moscow that is unhappy. The Belgian government is concerned it will be left with an enormous bill if it all goes wrong, and Euroclear CEO Valérie Urbain warns using the assets could "destabilise the international financial system". Euroclear also has an approximate €16-17bn immobilised in Russia. Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever has set the EU a series of "rational, reasonable, and justified conditions" before he will agree to the reconstruction loan scheme, and he has not excluded legal action if it "presents significant risks" for his country. The Details of the EU's Plan? European Union officials is working to the wire before next Thursday's summit to agree on a compromise that Belgium can support. Previously the EU has refrained from accessing the principal funds directly but since last year has paid the "extraordinary revenues" from them to Ukraine. In 2024 that was €3.7bn. Legally, using the revenue is deemed safe as Russia is subject to sanctions and the proceeds are not Moscow's sovereign assets. But global military support for Ukraine has slipped dramatically in 2025, and Europe has had trouble trying to make up the gap resulting from the US decision to largely cease funding Ukraine under President Donald Trump. There are presently two EU options seeking to providing Ukraine with €90bn, to finance a large portion of its funding needs. The first is to secure the capital on the markets, guaranteed by the EU budget as a surety. This is Belgium's favored solution but it requires a consensus by EU leaders and that would be problematic when Hungary and Slovakia are against funding Ukraine's military. This makes the other option providing a loan of Ukraine cash from the Moscow's immobilized capital, which were at first held in securities but have now largely turned into cash. That capital is Euroclear property held in the European Central Bank. Brussels' executive arm recognizes Belgium has legitimate concerns and states it is confident it has resolved them. The proposal is for Belgium to be protected with a insurance covering all the €210bn of Russian assets in the EU. If Euroclear suffer a loss of its own assets in Russia, the shortfall would be covered 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 accepted in the EU. As an important step, EU ambassadors are poised to endorse on Friday to freeze indefinitely Russia's central bank assets held in Europe for the foreseeable future. Heretofore they have had to vote unanimously every six months to continue the freeze, which could have meant a ongoing risk to Belgium. The EU ambassadors are set 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 financial well-being of the union" continues. The Reasons Belgium is Not Yet On Board The Belgian government is firm it remains a strong supporter of Ukraine, but identifies juridical dangers in the plan and worries about being shouldering the fallout if things go wrong. A typically fractured political scene in this case has rallied behind Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who is under pressure from fellow EU leaders. "Belgium is a small economy. Belgian GDP is around €565bn – consider if it would need to shoulder a €185bn bill," says Veerle Colaert, expert in financial law at KU Leuven University. Although the EU might be able to arrange enough assurances for the loan itself, Belgium fears an additional danger of being exposed to extra damages or penalties. Prof Colaert also argues the stipulation for Euroclear to provide a loan to the EU would breach EU banking regulations. "Financial institutions need to comply with stability regulations and shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket. Now the EU is telling Euroclear to do exactly that. "What is the purpose of these banking laws? It's because we want banks to be solvent. And if things go wrong it would be up to Belgium to bail out Euroclear. That's another reason why it's so important for Belgium to get 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 closest to Russia such as the Baltics, Finland and Poland. They argue the frozen assets plan is "the most economically realistic and politically realistic solution". "This is a crucial test for us," says leading German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. "If the plan collapses, I don't know what we'll do subsequently. That's why we have to reach an agreement in a week's time". While Russia is adamant its money should not be touched, there are added concerns among European figures that the US may want to use Russia's immobilized billions differently, as part of its own peace plan. Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is working with Europe and the US on a rebuilding fund, but he is also mindful the US has been talking to Russia about possible partnership. An initial document of the US peace plan referred to $100bn of Russia's immobilized capital being used by the US for reconstruction, with the US {taking|receiving