EU weighs new options for using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine

European Union countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland, are urging Brussels to renew efforts to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to finance support for Ukraine, The Financial Times reported.

Previous plans to assist Kyiv using more than €200 billion in assets frozen from the Central Bank of Russia fell through after Belgium, where the majority of these funds are held by Euroclear, blocked the initiative.

Now, a coalition of states has prepared a letter for the European Commission, calling for a renewed push to develop the idea and for clarity on progress toward alternative legal and technical solutions to the issue, according to The Financial Times, citing four sources.

“Now is the right time to start a new discussion on how we can continue to use frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine and all of us,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. “This is a fair and reasonable way to ensure a scenario in which Ukraine receives the funds to defend itself and the whole of Europe,” she added.

In December 2025, EU countries agreed to continue working on the issue. However, there have been no updates since then, leading several countries to request a progress report, the sources said.

“So far, no one has put forward a new proposal that does not encounter the same political obstacles as existed in December,” said one EU official. “We don’t have a magical white rabbit to pull out of the hat. But we can refine and adjust the same legal proposals, and if the political landscape shifts, maybe they’ll be approved,” the official added.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would use all possible legal avenues if European countries seize its frozen assets. “Russia will use the full arsenal of legal means to protect its interests and to legally pursue those who made and implemented such decisions,” news agency Interfax quoted him as saying. According to Peskov, such actions “will have their legal consequences.”

Euroclear holds the bulk of Russian sovereign assets frozen after the outbreak of Moscow’s war against Ukraine—about €190 billion out of a total €260 billion. In December 2025, the European Union approved an indefinite freeze on these funds until the war ends; previously, the blocking measures had been regularly extended.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot visited Kyiv in mid-August and said the country is generally open to using frozen Russian assets, but other EU members would need to share in all the related risks.

Since 2024, profits generated by Euroclear from managing the frozen assets have been directed to funding assistance for Ukraine.