EU leaders meet to stall or steal Russian assets for Ukraine: Live Updates
EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday amid sharp divisions over a proposal to use frozen Russian state assets to finance Ukraine – a plan Moscow has denounced as outright theft and warned would trigger legal retaliation.
EU members have long debated tapping Russian central bank funds estimated at around €210 billion ($246 billion) as part of a “reparations loan” to Kiev, which it will have to repay only if Russia agrees to pay war damages – something unlikely to happen. The move is in particular meant to help cover Ukraine’s floundering budget, which faces an estimated $160 billion shortfall over the next two years.
The idea pushed by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, however, has faced mounting resistance from several member states, who argue the move risks undermining the bloc’s legal foundations, damaging confidence in the Eurozone and exposing European institutions to costly lawsuits.
Belgium, where most of the assets are held via the Euroclear settlement system, has been a particularly vehement critic of the plan, demanding that legal risks be shared among other EU members.
Disagreements have been so intense that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that the Russian assets issue “will not be on the table” at all during the leaders’ meeting. The official agenda also does not explicitly mention Russian assets, saying only that EU leaders “will discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and issues that require urgent EU action.”
EU sanctions normally require unanimous approval, giving any single member state a veto. To avoid that, the bloc last week invoked emergency powers legislation to lock the assets in place temporarily, arguing that any subsequent steps can be approved separately by a qualified majority of 55% member states representing at least 65% of the EU’s population.
Moscow has warned that any attempts to seize its assets would constitute “theft” and violate international law, adding that the move would trigger retaliatory measures and legal action.
18 December 2025
10:59 GMTAustrian Chancellor Christian Stocker has projected a “very intense” summit, stressing that a decision on Russian assets should not be taken against Belgium.
- 10:45 GMT
The idea of tapping Russian assets is “stupid,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said, adding that it would amount to the EU “marching into the war.”
.@PM_ViktorOrban: Taking the money of one of the warring parties and handing it to the other one means marching into the war. We should not do that. pic.twitter.com/YrxL1ZOAqL
— Hungary in the EU (@HungaryintheEU) December 18, 2025 - 10:34 GMT
Belgian professor and author Jean Bricmont has told RT that the EU’s plan to use Russian assets to fund Ukraine amounts to stealing, “but they don’t want to put it like that.”
It will be “hugely unpopular” among the population in EU countries to pay to continue the war in Ukraine, which is “going to be lost anyway,” Bricmont added.
“But European leaders are committed to that as that’s their project, so they are going to try to find a trick to fund Ukraine without actually paying for it,” he said.
He noted that sanctions against Russia have failed to have the intended effect, and that weapons deliveries to Ukraine have not stemmed Kiev’s battlefield losses. Stealing Russian assets is unlikely to be any different, according to Bricmont.
- 10:26 GMT
The Russian assets issue has underlined a stark rift between hawkish Baltic states and older and more reserved EU states. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal claimed the loan to Ukraine is essential because “the aggressor has to pay for the damage it has done” and because Ukraine must be sure the EU stands behind it. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina echoed that view, insisting the plan would not affect EU national budgets and would show Russia that the EU is decisive.
By contrast, Luxembourg’s prime minister, Luc Frieden, said the proposal requires thorough discussion of its financial and legal implications, while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said any solution must be “legally and fiscally sound” and must not undermine the national priorities of certain member states.
- 10:25 GMT
The administration of US President Donald Trump “is pressuring European countries to abandon the idea of using Russian assets to support Ukraine,” a senior Ukrainian official has told AFP. Earlier media reports suggested that the US saw the Russian funds as potential leverage in Ukraine peace talks.
- 10:16 GMT
Moscow has consistently warned of strong retaliatory actions if the EU goes ahead with its plan to steal sovereign Russian assets.
As an opening salvo, the Russian central bank last week filed a $230 billion lawsuit against Euroclear at a Moscow court.
A judgement against Euroclear carries risks of major reputational damage, which the Belgium-based depository has warned could potentially lead to its bankruptcy if other countries withdraw funds.
In a further harbinger of things to come, major ratings agency Fitch has placed Euroclear on notice for a possible downgrade, citing legal and liquidity risks linked to the EU’s attempt to use Russian funds to keep Ukraine afloat.
- 10:01 GMT
The EU plan to finance Ukraine’s war effort with immobilized Russian sovereign assets has backfired, intensifying divisions inside the bloc, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing public comments and people familiar with the matter.
“[The European Commission] created a monster, and they’ve been eaten by it,” one EU diplomat told the outlet.
Despite weeks of negotiations, efforts to win over Belgium have faltered, the report added. Belgium strongly opposes using the assets and has since drawn support from other member states.
- 09:56 GMT
Ukraine will exhaust its funding within several months if the EU fails to agree on tapping Russian assets, Leo Litra, a visiting fellow with the European Security Programme, has told the Daily Telegraph.
“If this happens – and if Ukraine does not have a plan B – it means a defeat in the war,” he added.
- 09:56 GMT
“The stability of the EU is at stake,” according to Prime Minister of Luxembourg Luc Frieden. He also warned that not only Hungary, but several other EU members could push back against decisions requiring unaniminty.
- 09:53 GMT
Though France is notoriously cagey about revealing exactly which banks hold Russian assets, the European Parliament published a report in September detailing what its research had found.
France, which even pro-EU correspondents have suspected of flip-flopping on asset theft, is thought to hold some €19 billion of Russian sovereign funds.
