The European Commission said on Thursday that using frozen Russian sovereign assets in the EU to support Ukraine remains under consideration, as four Member States are urging the EU to reopen the debate.
At the EU summit on 18 December, Belgium persuaded other member states to favour a conventional market loan to help Ukraine, worth €90 billion for 2026 and 2027, rather than using cash balances linked to Russia’s immobilised assets, as the Commission had proposed.
Most of those assets are held by Euroclear in Brussels. Belgium uses the resulting corporate tax revenue to support Ukraine.
The De Wever government fears that if the cash balances themselves were used, Russia could win substantial compensation through the courts, leaving Belgium exposed if other member states did not share the burden.
According to the Financial Times, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland are due to send a letter to the European Commission on Thursday calling for fresh work on the issue.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said it was time to reopen the discussion on how frozen Russian assets could be used more extensively for Ukraine and in Europe’s own interest.
She said this was the fairest and most sensible way to ensure Ukraine could defend itself and, in doing so, defend Europe as a whole.
By midday, however, the Commission said it had not yet received the letter.
Even so, a Commission spokesperson said the matter had never been taken off the agenda. The 18 December summit, he noted, had asked the Council and the European Parliament to continue examining the legal and technical aspects of a possible “reparation loan” based on frozen Russian assets.
"If the issue is raised again today, we will have to look at it," the spokesperson said.
At Council level, EU foreign ministers are due to meet in Ireland next week for an informal gathering. Earlier this week, a senior European official said divisions among the 27 Member States persisted and described there as being little appetite to reopen the file.
Belgium says it does not oppose in principle using the money for Ukraine, provided there is a legally robust solution and guaranteed solidarity through risk-sharing among member states.
The issue has resurfaced as European Council President Antonio Costa tours EU capitals ahead of negotiations on the bloc’s next long-term budget.
Ukraine has also stepped up pressure. During a visit to Kyiv last week by Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, Ukrainian officials again pressed the case and asked the EU to bring forward part of the €90 billion loan to cover a funding shortfall in the defence ministry.
