European Union leaders agreed not to use frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine’s defence in the ongoing war with Russia early on Friday.
Instead, 90 billion euros ($106bn) will come from an interest-free loan provided by 23 out of the 27 EU member states. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were granted an exemption in order to allow the deal to pass following months of debate and knife-edge discussions on Thursday night.
It is estimated that Ukraine will require an extra 136bn euros ($159bn) over the next two years, if it is to avoid bankruptcy as soon as April, leading the European Commission to put forth a plan to tap into some of the frozen Russian central bank assets held by the bloc.
But Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever had refused to sign off on this without “ironclad guarantees” that Belgium, where most of the Russian assets are held, would be protected from potential Russian legal retaliation.
Belgium estimated it could be left owing billions of euros if Moscow successfully sued Euroclear – a Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) provider in the Eurozone – where the funds are held.
Hungary and Slovakia had also expressed strong opposition to the plan, with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban labelling the plan a “dead end”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that using frozen assets to finance Ukraine would be akin to theft.
How would the plan to use Russian assets have worked?
Under the plan, the EU would have borrowed from Euroclear – the Belgian-based clearing house holding more than 40 trillion euros ($47 trillion) of assets – to provide Ukraine with an initial 90-billion-euro ($106bn) loan. This equates to about two-thirds of Ukraine’s funding requirements until 2027.
The loan would only have needed to be repaid to the EU if Russia agreed to pay reparations for the war to Ukraine. Losses from the war are estimated at about $524bn in reconstruction costs, according to the European Parliament.
Which countries hold frozen Russian assets?
More than 289.5 billion euros ($339.3bn) in Russian assets have been frozen by Western countries since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the EU holding 209 billion euros ($247bn) of this. Belgium holds the largest share at 180 billion euros ($210bn).
Belgium holds 180 billion euros ($210bn)
Japan holds 28 billion euros ($32.8bn)
The UK holds 27 billion euros ($31.6bn)
France holds 19 billion euros ($22.3bn)
Canada holds 15.1 billion euros ($17.7bn)
Luxembourg holds 10 billion euros ($11.7bn)
Switzerland holds 6.2 billion euros ($7.3bn)
The United States holds 4.3 billion euros ($5bn)
Which EU members opposed the plan to use Russian assets?
Besides Belgium, a number of EU members opposed the plan, with Belgium raising concerns that using the frozen assets without strong EU guarantees is “fundamentally wrong”.
It warned that Moscow could retaliate by targeting Belgian property in Russia, while Russia-friendly countries could also lodge legal claims against Euroclear.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the proposal as “stupid”, saying that tapping into Russian assets risked further escalating the conflict in Ukraine.
He told reporters: “There are two countries which are at war – it’s not European Union, [it’s] Russia and Ukraine – and the European Union would like to take away the money of one of the warring party and then to give it to another one.
“It’s marching into the war. The Belgian prime minister is right, we should not do that,” he said.
Which countries have assets frozen by Europe?
While Russia is the most prominent non-European country with significant assets frozen in Europe, several other nations outside Europe are also subject to asset freezes under the EU sanctions regimes.
While Russia’s situation is unique because the EU has frozen its Sovereign Central Bank reserves, most other countries on this list primarily have assets belonging to government officials, oligarchs or specific state-owned companies frozen, rather than their entire national reserves.
According to the European Commission’s sanction tracker, the EU has imposed asset freezes and a prohibition on making funds available in at least 31 countries. Many of the moves are mandated by the United Nations, and then implemented by the EU, while other asset freezes come directly as a result of EU decisions, including those on Venezuela.
Explore the table below to find out which other countries have had assets frozen by the EU.
In 2017, the EU froze assets of Venezuelan entities and individuals in response to the breakdown of democratic rule and human rights abuses in the country under President Nicolas Maduro. It specifically targeted individuals committing serious violations, and the European Council only recently extended these measures until January 2027.
In 2013, the European Council decided to place Syria under restrictive measures, including asset freezes and financial restrictions. These include member states being prohibited from entering into new commitments for grants, financial assistance or concessional loans to the Government of Syria.
These measures were put in place in protest against human rights violations committed under Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which was finally toppled in December last year. In 2014, the measures were expanded to include any individuals or entities which supported the regime and chemical weapons production.
After the overthrow of the government in December 2024, the EU suspended some of these measures to help support the political transition in Syria, but has maintained freezes on the Assad regime and the drugs trade.
Which countries have the UK and US imposed asset freezes on?
According to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), which tracks financial sanctions, the United Kingdom has frozen the UK-based assets of individuals and entities from 22 countries, with most being the same states sanctioned by the EU.
The United States typically freezes assets via the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which catalogues different levels of sanctions, the US has almost fully frozen the assets of the governments of four countries, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia. In June this year, US President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order removing US sanctions on Syria.
The US has also placed country-specific sanctions on dozens of other nations.
