Four EU countries renew push to use Russia’s €210bn assets to support Ukraine

EU Capitals Race to Unlock Frozen Russian Wealth Before Election Cycles Derail Ukraine Funding

Usagevpn.com – With national elections looming across several major member states next year, a coalition of four European governments has formally urged the bloc to find new ways to channel Russia’s immobilised financial reserves toward Ukraine’s war effort. The move, timed to precede the political distraction that campaigning brings, represents a renewed attempt to solve a problem that has haunted Brussels since the United States scaled back its military assistance to Kyiv.

The initiative was spearheaded by Sweden and joined by the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland — a deliberate geographic spread spanning Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. The resulting letter was directed to High Representative Kaja Kallas and to Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee, who currently holds the rotating Council presidency for Ireland.

The Financial Stakes

The EU currently holds approximately €210 billion in Russian assets locked in place, the vast majority custodied in Belgium through Euroclear. While the bloc approved a €90 billion support loan for Ukraine earlier this year, Kyiv’s fiscal position remains precarious. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly pressed allies to close a €23 billion shortfall in the Ministry of Defence budget, telling partners he requires

“more money, much more”

to remain “competitive” in conducting deep-strike operations. That appeal caught Brussels by surprise and sharpened anxieties about whether the existing credit line can sustain Ukraine through both 2026 and 2027 as originally structured.

Why Timing Matters

The letter’s authors are explicit about the political window. France, Poland, Italy, and Spain all face national votes next year, and the authors argue that once those governments turn inward, the political capital needed to negotiate a complex financial instrument involving frozen sovereign wealth will evaporate.

“We believe now is the time to revert to the issue of how we can make further use of Russia’s immobilised assets for the benefit of Ukraine,” the letter states, drafted at the initiative of the Swedish government. “While we should be proud of our achievements, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.”

The authors further insist that

“Ukraine needs more financial support in both the short and long term. The EU, in dialogue with its partners, should continue to provide comprehensive, predictable and structured financial support to Ukraine in line with its need.”

The Previous Attempt and Its Collapse

The question of converting frozen Russian wealth into usable funding was debated intensively last year. The European Commission tabled a proposal to transform the €210 billion into a zero-interest loan covering Kyiv’s budgetary and military expenditures. Brussels maintained the scheme would stop short of outright confiscation — which international law prohibits — on the grounds that Russia could reclaim the funds should it ever pay war reparations.

Belgium, as host of Euroclear and the primary custodian of the assets, objected from the start. Prime Minister Bart De Wever demanded “full mutualisation” of the associated risks, warning that his country would otherwise be left exposed to Russian litigation and damage claims. Euroclear itself described the proposal as fragile and overtly experimental, cautioning that it risked triggering an investor exodus from Belgian financial infrastructure.

“There is no free money in the world. It just does not exist,” De Wever declared at the time.

Despite sustained advocacy from a German-led group of supporters, the scheme ultimately collapsed at a make-or-break summit in December. As a fallback, the 27 leaders agreed to issue an extraordinary €90 billion loan backed by common borrowing, repayable only once reparations are settled. Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia negotiated a full opt-out from the arrangement.

The Current Fiscal Gap

The €90 billion loan was designed to cover Ukraine’s needs across both 2026 and 2027, split evenly at €45 billion per annum. The first tranche was disbursed in June. Yet Moscow’s escalating campaign of ballistic missile strikes has upended Kyiv’s calculations, prompting a scramble for additional air-defence systems and inflating defence costs well beyond original projections.

Brussels has so far disbursed €3.2 billion in budgetary aid and €8.35 billion in military aid. A further €22 billion has been allocated this year for weapons purchases. With the new EU multiannual budget — which includes a dedicated Ukraine envelope — not taking effect until 2028, a funding gap is emerging that the existing loan may not bridge.

Diplomatic Signals and Next Steps

At a Thursday press conference, a European Commission spokesperson said the institution was “ready to provide any assistance that might be needed in this context” and would examine the four-country letter “carefully.”

Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha raised the question of reallocating Russia’s immobilised assets during a visit to Kyiv by his Belgian counterpart, Maxime Prévot. Prévot acknowledged that the risks Belgium had previously flagged had not disappeared, but signalled openness to considering new proposals, noting no objection in principle to further discussion.

Whether the renewed push gains traction before election cycles consume political bandwidth remains uncertain. What is clear is that the financial arithmetic in Kyiv no longer supports waiting: the gap between what Ukraine requires and what existing instruments can deliver is widening with every salvo of missiles over Ukrainian cities.