The European Union agrees to indefinitely freeze more than $200 billion from Russia that could be used to arm and rebuild Ukraine

Russia’s legal response was expected in Brussels, and EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday that EU financial institutions were “fully protected” from proceedings of this kind.

But it’s not just Moscow that is dissatisfied.

Belgium fears that if everything goes wrong it will be forced to foot a huge bill. That’s why Euroclear boss Valérie Urbain says that the use of Russian funds could “destabilize the international financial system.”

Euroclear also has nearly $20 billion tied up in Russia.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever imposed a series of “rational, reasonable and justified conditions” on the EU before adopting the reparations plan and refused to rule out legal action if it entailed “significant risks” for his country.

The EU is working around the clock in the run-up to next Thursday’s summit to find a solution that Belgium can accept.

The EU has so far refrained from attacking the assets directly, but since last year it has been paying Ukraine any resulting “windfall profits.” In 2024, this amount was approximately $4,345 million. The legal use of the interest is considered safe because Russia is under sanctions and the proceeds are not Russian state property.

However, international military aid to Ukraine was sharply reduced in 2025 and Europe struggled to make up the deficit created by the United States’ decision to stop funding Ukraine under Donald Trump.

There are currently two EU proposals that aim to provide Ukraine with around $105 billion to cover two-thirds of its financing needs.

One of them is to raise the money on the capital markets, using the EU budget as collateral. This is Belgium’s preferred option, but requires a unanimous vote from EU leaders, which would be difficult if Hungary and Slovakia reject funding for the Ukrainian military.

That leaves the possibility of lending Ukraine money from Russian assets that were originally held in securities but have now largely been converted into cash. This money is owned by Euroclear and held at the European Central Bank.

The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, has acknowledged that Belgium has legitimate concerns and is confident it has addressed them. The plan is to protect the country with a guarantee covering €210 billion in Russian assets in the EU.

Should Euroclear suffer a loss on its own assets in Russia, a Commission source said it would be offset by assets of the Russian clearinghouse in the EU.

If Russia were to take action against Belgium, a ruling by a Russian court would not be recognized in the EU.

In a major development, EU ambassadors have agreed that the Russian central bank’s assets held in Europe should be frozen indefinitely.

Previously, they had to vote unanimously every six months on extending the freeze, which could have posed a renewed risk for Belgium.

EU ambassadors have resorted to an emergency clause under Article 122 of the EU treaties, under which assets remain frozen as long as there is an “imminent threat to the economic interests of the Union” or until Russia pays full war compensation to Ukraine.

Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said the decision was “an important step to enable greater support for Ukraine and protect our democracy.”

Belgium maintains its stance of remaining a loyal ally of Ukraine, but sees legal risks in the plan and fears it will face consequences if something goes wrong.

The normally divided local political landscape has, in this case, morphed into unanimous support for Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who is under pressure from his European counterparts.

The EU will make “very important decisions” next week, the Belgian Prime Minister said at a meeting with his British counterpart Keir Starmer in London this Friday. He added that Belgium and the United Kingdom will work together to “ensure that we can support Ukraine to remain a free, democratic and sovereign country.”

The EU believes it can obtain sufficient guarantees on the loan itself, but Brussels fears the additional risk of being exposed to further damage or sanctions.

“Belgium is a small economy. The Belgian GDP is around 565 billion euros. Imagine having to take on a bill of 185 billion euros,” says Veerle Colaert, professor of financial law at KU Leuven.

It also believes that requiring Euroclear to lend to the EU would breach EU banking rules.

“Banks must meet capital and liquidity requirements and not put all their eggs in one basket. Now the EU is asking Euroclear to do exactly that.”

“Why do we have these banking rules? Because we want the banks to be stable. And if something goes wrong, it’s up to Belgium to save Euroclear. That’s another reason why it’s so important for Belgium to get solid guarantees for Euroclear,” he said.

Seven EU member states, including those geographically closest to Russia such as the Baltic countries, Finland and Poland, have said there is no time to waste. They believe that the asset freeze plan is “the most practical solution from a financial perspective and the most realistic solution from a political perspective.”

“For us it is a question of fate,” says prominent German conservative MP Norbert Röttgen. “If we fail, I don’t know what we’ll do next. That’s why we have to succeed in a week.”

While Russia continues to stubbornly insist that its money should not be touched, there are additional concerns among European figures that the United States may want to use Russia’s frozen billions in other ways, as part of its own peace plan.

Zelensky said Ukraine was working with Europe and the United States on a reconstruction fund, but he was also aware that the United States had discussed future cooperation with Russia.

An early draft of the U.S. peace plan said the U.S. would use $100 billion in frozen Russian assets for reconstruction, with Washington taking 50% of the profits and Europe contributing another $100 billion. The rest of the assets would then be used in some sort of joint investment project between the United States and Russia.

An EU source said the added bonus of Friday’s vote to freeze Russia’s assets indefinitely made it difficult for anyone to take the money. This means that the US would have to convince the majority of EU member states to vote for a plan that would cost them enormously financially.

Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, considered Russia’s closest partner in the EU, said European leaders would “put themselves above the rules” and replace the rule of law with the rule of bureaucrats.

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