Frozen Russian Billions Back on the Table as Four EU Countries Seek Funds for Ukraine

Frozen Russian assets worth about €193 billion are back at the center of an unresolved European dispute. The money is held at Euroclear in Brussels, and four EU countries want the European Commission to work out how it could finally be used to support Ukraine.

The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden sent the request in a letter last Thursday. Their appeal comes only nine months after European leaders decided not to touch the funds. Belgium is again under pressure because most of the assets are held at Euroclear, leaving the country exposed to potential legal claims and Russian retaliation.

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They are countries that give more support to Ukraine from their own budgets than average.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever had opposed using the money unless all EU countries offered unlimited solidarity. The four governments have not addressed their request directly to Belgium. Instead, they asked the Commission to prepare a proposal that would take Belgian concerns into account and distribute the risk among all member states.

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Actually, they would rather not have to do that anymore, and that is why they are looking at those Russian assets.

The countries backing the initiative are largely familiar supporters of using the assets. The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden already favored the idea last year, while the Netherlands included it in the coalition agreement of the Jetten government. Spain's participation is more notable because it had previously kept a lower profile and had not ranked among the leading providers of financial support to Ukraine.

VRT European affairs correspondent Rob Heirbaut said these countries contribute more than average from their own budgets and would prefer to rely on the Russian assets instead. He also said the European financing agreed in December no longer appears sufficient. The EU chose to borrow €90 billion on capital markets and pass it to Ukraine as an interest-free loan intended to cover 2026 and 2027. But, Heirbaut said, the war is intensifying and countries outside the EU, including Canada and Japan, have contributed less than promised. The Commission is not yet working on a concrete plan and is waiting for an October summit discussion.

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That is clearly not the case anymore.