EU Stalls Plan to Seize Russian Assets for Ukraine Amid Legal Disputes

By Staff, Agencies

European Union leaders have once again failed to reach a consensus on the controversial proposal to use frozen Russian assets to fund a massive loan for Ukraine, with Belgium demanding stronger legal protections before any action is taken, according to reports from Bloomberg and Politico. The issue has now been postponed until December.

At Thursday’s Brussels summit, EU officials reportedly made little progress on the plan to leverage immobilized Russian central bank assets — valued at around €140 billion [$163 billion] — as collateral for a so-called “reparation loan” to Kiev. The concept envisions that the debt would be repaid only if Ukraine prevails in the conflict and Russia agrees to pay reparations, a scenario widely regarded as improbable.

Moscow has repeatedly denounced Western moves to seize its frozen funds, calling them an act of “theft.”

According to Politico, negotiations “were thrown into disarray” when Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever adopted what one official described as a “surprisingly firm” stance. Belgium, which controls most of the frozen Russian funds through the Brussels-based financial clearinghouse Euroclear, has insisted that all EU members must share responsibility “if it goes wrong” with using the assets.

As a result, Belgium supported a compromise draft that effectively postponed any binding decision. The current document, seen by Politico, “invites the [EU] Commission to present, as soon as possible, options for financial support,” softening earlier language that had demanded a concrete legal proposal.

Belgium’s resistance frustrated some EU officials, with one source telling Politico, “Nobody wants to be seen as responsible for Ukraine running out of money — but there’s still nothing agreed to actually send them any.”

Bloomberg reported that EU leaders plan to revisit the issue at the next summit, aiming to secure a final decision by year’s end.

Responding to the developments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that any attempt to use Russian assets to fund Ukraine would “boomerang,” saying, “If someone wants to steal our property, our assets and illegally appropriate them, they will face legal prosecution one way or another.”