As this decision moves closer to execution, unease grows in the Kremlin. Even though the assets were blocked on February 28, 2022, as soon as the war broke out, Moscow had not reacted until now. This Friday, the Bank of Russia announced legal action against Euroclear, the Brussels company which held most of the funds.
The EU responds that it has a powerful legal shield to counter any attack Legal from the Kremlin. All the measures taken by the EU are “legally sound” and “totally consistent with international and European law”, defended the Commissioner responsible for the economy. Valdis Dombrovskis.
“It is foreseeable that Russia will continue to initiate speculative legal proceedings to prevent the EU from applying international law and to evade its legal obligation to compensate Ukraine for the damage it caused” Dombrovskis admits
“For this reason, both in our current sanctions regime and in the proposals we presented last week, we have included additional protections for EU financial institutions that hold these assets,” the Economy chief said.
Especially, The EU will not recognize or enforce any judicial, arbitral or administrative resolution this meets the Kremlin’s demands. In addition, European depositaries can compensate for any seizures they suffer in Russia by freezing their assets on European territory.
However, Belgium, which fears becoming the main target of Moscow’s reprisals, believes that these protective measures remain insufficient. This Friday, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmermet his Belgian counterpart in London, Bart Weverto try to convince him to lift his veto.
Time is running out. By early 2026, Volodymyr Zelensky’s government will run out of money to pay salaries, utilities or weapons to continue the fight. Brussels believes that Ukraine will need 135.7 billion euros to stay afloat over the next few years and resist the Kremlin’s aggression.
But Trump has suspended aid to Zelensky since coming to powerand EU governments have neither the fiscal space to plug this hole, nor the will to support another massive common debt problem.
This is why, after having rejected the idea of huge risks involvedEuropean leaders are now considering sending to kyiv the 210 billion assets of the Bank of Russia frozen in the EU since the start of the war. The majority (185 billion) is in Euroclear.
With this money, the EU intends to grant Ukraine a “reparation loan”, the initial amount of which will amount to 90 billion euros. kyiv would only have to return the money in the highly unlikely event that Moscow compensated it for the damage caused by the war.
The first step has already been taken. In an unprecedented initiative, the EU approved this Friday the freezing of these 210 billion in perpetuity, activating an emergency mechanism allowing decisions to be taken by qualified majority, with the sole objective of overcoming Hungary’s veto. Victor Orbán.
Until now, the blockade had to be renewed unanimously every 6 months and Budapest has already threatened several times to revoke it. IThe release of Russian sovereign funds would immediately defeat the entire framework of the “reparation loan”.
What is surprising in this matter is that during this Friday’s vote, Belgium supported the indefinite freezing of the Bank of Russia’s assets. However, he issued a statement in which he clarified that ““This vote in no way prejudges the decision on the possible use of frozen Russian assets, which must be adopted at the leadership level.”
The declaration is also signed by Italy, Bulgaria and Malta, which had until now expressed no reservations about sending Russian assets to Ukraine. At the end, The only ones to vote “no” were Hungary and Slovakia.as reported by diplomatic sources.
“At the October summitEU leaders have pledged to maintain the freeze on Russian assets until Russia ends its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates for the damage caused. Today, we respect this commitment”, wrote the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa.
The decisive step is now missing: converting frozen Russian assets into a “reparation loan” for Ukraine. De Wever requires guarantees from the rest of the Member States to cover the full funds, as well as the rest of the associated risks.
The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyenassures that it has already responded to “the majority” of Belgium’s requests. Negotiations will continue until the last minute. Costa himself warned that the summit on Thursday December 18 could be extended until Friday or Saturday. Until there was white smoke.
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