The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden have jointly called on the European Union to reopen the debate on using Russia's frozen assets to provide further aid to Ukraine. They sent a letter urging EU officials to reconsider how these immobilized funds can benefit Kyiv amid ongoing financial needs [1, 2, 3].
Since February 2022, the EU has frozen around 210 billion euros of Russian central bank assets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. About 185 billion euros of these assets are held at Euroclear, a central securities depository based in Brussels [1]. The frozen total is estimated to be roughly 7.75 trillion New Taiwan dollars [2, 3].
Last December, the EU agreed on a 90 billion euro loan package covering 2026 and 2027 to support Ukraine’s economy. However, the four countries consider this amount insufficient to meet Ukraine’s financial needs. Their letter stated, "Ukraine needs more financial support in both the short and long term. 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" [1].
Belgium has opposed using the frozen Russian assets to issue loans, citing concerns over potential legal liabilities and lawsuits from Russia. Nevertheless, recent Belgian government statements show some openness to renewed talks if other EU members can provide financial guarantees to share risk [1, 2, 3].
The four countries have asked for this matter to be discussed at the upcoming informal meeting of EU foreign ministers scheduled for September 1-2, 2026, in Ireland [1, 2, 3]. They also urged the European Commission to deploy technical experts to explore new options for using the assets, aiming to distribute legal and financial risks among member states [1, 2, 3].
The September meeting will be the next opportunity for EU members to address the issue of Russia’s frozen assets and Ukraine’s financial support amid ongoing war-related challenges.
