Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland are pushing the European Commission to restart work on using frozen Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine, after a similar plan collapsed last winter under a Belgian veto. The push comes as EU capitals worry Kyiv's existing €90bn loan will not cover its funding needs.
EU countries including Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland are urging Brussels to renew efforts to leverage immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine, responding to fears that Kyiv faces a renewed funding crisis. A coalition letter to the European Commission will call on the EU's executive to restart work on the concept and seek clarity on alternative legal and technical frameworks that could bypass Belgium's veto, according to four people briefed on the document.
The letter is expected to be sent on Thursday.
A plan that collapsed once already
Plans to fund Ukraine using more than €200bn in Russian central bank assets held in the EU under sanctions collapsed last winter after Belgium, where the majority of the assets sit, blocked the initiative. The EU froze the assets in the first days of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Belgium blocked the plan last year over concerns it would have to shoulder any repayment of the assets if Russia mounted legal challenges. Those concerns have not gone away — one of the people briefed on the letter said nothing has changed since the debate and disaster last time.
Why capitals are pushing again now
Profits from the assets held at Euroclear, the Brussels-based depository holding most of the frozen funds, already back a loan of up to €50bn agreed in 2024. But as Kyiv strains to protect its cities from nightly Russian missile bombardment, EU capitals worry the country needs financing beyond the €90bn loan raised against the bloc's budget that was hastily assembled last December as an alternative to the asset plan.
Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the €90bn loan is a manifestation of the EU's commitment to support Ukraine but is clearly not enough, and argued it is time to start a new discussion on using the frozen assets for Ukraine's benefit.
In December, EU countries agreed to keep working on establishing a reparations loan based on the cash balances tied to the immobilised assets, but there has been no communication on the issue since — so the coalition is now asking for a progress report.
Legal risk still blocks the path forward
The Kremlin has already signalled it would contest any seizure. According to the Financial Times, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters the seizure of Russian assets "would be illegal and would have legal consequences", adding that Russia would use the full range of legal means to defend its interests and pursue action against those responsible.
An EU official briefed on the internal discussions said no one has yet produced a new proposal that avoids the same political barriers that existed in December. The official said the bloc could still tinker with the existing legal proposals and pass them if the political environment shifts. The renewed push also coincides with a widening debate over the size and funding of the EU's next seven-year shared budget, which some diplomats suggest could become a vehicle for additional Ukraine financing.
Source: Financial Times
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