EU Nations Urge Return to Debate Over Using Frozen Russian Assets for Ukraine

The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden have called on the European Commission to resume discussions on using frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine. In a letter dated August 27 addressed to European Commission foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee, the four countries urged a return to the topic to address Ukraine's funding needs. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently indicated a 23 billion euro defense funding gap, and the coalition of countries fears Kyiv will face a new financial crisis.

Over 200 billion euros in Russian Central Bank reserves are frozen in the EU, with a large portion held by the Belgian depository Euroclear. While the G7 has already agreed to a loan for Ukraine backed by the interest earned on these assets, the assets themselves remain frozen. Previous attempts to create a mechanism for using the principal assets failed due to opposition from Belgium. Belgian officials have cited serious risks to the national budget and potential legal liabilities if Russia pursues successful lawsuits, noting that other EU members have not offered to share this responsibility.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the seizure of assets would be illegal and warned that Russia would use all legal means to protect its interests. In response to the previous failure of the asset initiative, EU leaders agreed to a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine for 2026 to 2027, which is secured by the general EU budget.