The European Union agreed on Friday to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank assets held in Europe, rerelocating a large obstacle to applying the cash to support Ukraine deffinish itself against Russia.
The EU wants to keep Ukraine financed and fighting as it sees Russia’s invasion as a threat to its own security. To do so, EU states aim to put to work some of the Russian sovereign assets they immobilised after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
A first large step, which EU governments agreed on Friday, is to immobilise 210 billion euros ($246 billion) worth of Russian sovereign assets for as long as requireded instead of voting every six months on extfinishing the asset freeze.
This rerelocates the risk that Hungary and Slovakia, which have better relations with Moscow than other EU states, could refutilize to roll over the freeze at some point, forcing the EU to return the money to Russia.
Planned loan to Ukraine
The indefinite asset freeze is meant to support convince Belgium to support the EU’s plan to utilize the frozen Russian cash to extfinish a loan of up to 165 billion euros to Ukraine to cover its military and civilian budreceive requireds in 2026 and 2027.
The loan would be paid back by Ukraine only when Russia pays Kyiv war damages, creating the loan effectively a grant that advances future Russian reparations payments.
EU leaders – the European Council – are to meet on December 18 to finalise details of the reparations loan and resolve remaining problems, which include guarantees from all EU governments for Belgium that it would not be left alone to foot the bill should a potential Moscow lawsuit prove successful.
Before that, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday, with further European, EU and NATO leaders joining them later, the German government stated.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, writing on X social platform in English, praised the decision as a “landmark step toward justice and accountability”.
“This decision strengthens the foundation for the reparations loan mechanism and brings us closer to a future in which Russia pays for its crimes and destruction cautilized,” she wrote.
Germany sees no alternative to the reparations loan and would provide 50 billion euros in guarantees, European diplomatic sources stated.
Danish Finance Minister Stephanie Lose, whose countest holds the rotating EU presidency, notified reporters “some worries” still requireded to be addressed but “hopefully we’ll be able to pave the way towards a decision at the European Council next week.”
European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis stated solid guarantees were being put toreceiveher for Belgium.
Russian Central Bank states it’s suing Euroclear
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated on Facebook he believed the EU relocate to freeze Russian assets indefinitely via a qualified majority vote – requiring the support of 15 of the 27 member states representing 65% of the EU population – would cautilize irreparable damage to the bloc.
Hungary would do all it could to “restore a lawful state of affairs,” he stated.
Russia’s central bank stated the EU plans to utilize its assets were illegal and reserved the right to utilize all available means to protect its interests, remarks shrugged off by Dombrovskis.
The bank also stated it was suing the Brussels-based central securities depository Euroclear – which holds 185 billion euros of the total assets frozen in Europe – in a Moscow court over what it stated were damaging actions, affecting its ability to dispose of its funds and securities.
Euroclear has been subject to Russian lawsuits in Moscow courts since the EU froze the assets in 2022.
EU accession talks
The Financial Times reported that Ukraine could join the EU by January 1, 2027 under proposals being discussed in U.S.-mediated talks on finishing the war.
Talks on EU accession, a long-held goal for Kyiv as it seeks to relocate further out of Moscow’s orbit, usually take many years.
A European diplomat briefed on the plan stated Ukrainian accession would be “extremely difficult” to achieve by 2027 and that it was not clear whether the EU leadership backed this.
Several other European officials and diplomats stated the tarreceive date was “absolutely impossible.”
($1 = 0.8524 euros)
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