Four EU countries push Brussels to reopen the frozen Russian assets debate
Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland have urged the European Union to reopen talks on using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, according to the Financial Times. The push comes amid concerns that Kyiv could face another funding shortfall.
Plans to finance Ukraine with more than €200 billion in Russian central bank assets — frozen in the EU after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — collapsed last winter. Belgium, where most of the funds are held, blocked the initiative over fears of legal claims from Russia.
What happened with those Russian assets?
Russian central bank assets worth €260 billion were frozen in Western countries after the war began in 2022. Most of those funds — about €193 billion — are held at the Belgian depository Euroclear.
The European Union has weighed several options for using the assets. In one of the most recent, the European Commission proposed issuing Kyiv a “reparations loan” funded by Russian assets. Ukraine could repay the loan after the war ends, once Russia compensates it for the damage Russia caused. Belgium flatly opposed the plan, citing legal risks.
Profits from the Russian assets frozen at Euroclear are already being used to finance a loan to Ukraine of up to €50 billion, which the EU agreed to in 2024.
The European Union approved an indefinite freeze on Russian assets in December 2025, using a special procedure that does not require the support of all member states. The freeze will stay in place until Russia ends the war and compensates Ukraine for the damage.
The coalition sent the European Commission a letter to that effect, according to the FT’s sources. On August 26, the Ukrainian outlet Kyiv Independent published a draft of the open letter, which Sweden led in drafting.
The authors and signatories call for renewed work on a plan to use the Russian assets. They also want a progress report on alternative mechanisms that could bypass Belgium’s veto.
One FT source said the document calls on the European Commission to carry out the technical work needed to put Russian assets to use in support of Ukraine. The letter was sent Thursday.
Another source said no one has yet proposed a new solution that would not run into the same political obstacles as the previous one.
EU countries failed to agree in December 2025 on financing a “reparations loan” for Ukraine funded by frozen Russian assets. Instead, they gave Kyiv a €90 billion loan backed by the bloc’s own budget.
That same month, according to the FT, EU countries agreed to keep working on a “reparations loan” based on frozen Russian assets. Nothing has been made public about that work since.
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