UK and EU seek to provide Ukraine with €90 billion in frozen Russian assets – The Times

The UK government has proposed unfreezing £8 billion in Russian assets held in the country in order to support Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, citing The Times

Details: Alongside the UK's £8 billion, the EU seeks to unblock €90 billion in Russian assets it holds, mainly in Belgium, where Euroclear – the securities depository – is based. However, the Belgian government opposes transferring the funds to Ukraine, fearing it could be held legally liable for an amount equivalent to a third of its annual GDP.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper together with France, Germany and the European Commission are pushing for a change of approach, arguing that it is vital for countries to act jointly. A source in the UK government has said that the precise mechanism for unfreezing the £8 billion in Russian assets located in the UK and sending them to Ukraine has not yet been determined.

"We need a co-ordinated plan to draw on those Russian sovereign assets in order to be able not only just to support Ukraine in the short term, but share that overwhelming message to Russia," Cooper said.

Profits generated from the frozen assets have already been used to finance Ukraine. The new plan involves using the cash balances to support Kyiv through a reparations loan for 2026 and 2027.

The alternative would be for British and European taxpayers to find the funds to cover Ukraine's €137 billion budget deficit over the next two years, at a time when government borrowing costs are rising sharply and budget deficits across Europe are growing.

Background:

• As European Pravda reported, on 3 December the European Commission announced two decisions that will allow Ukraine's financial needs for 2026-27 to be met: a reparations loan based on Russia's frozen assets and joint EU borrowing on external markets.
• On the same day, even before the Commission unveiled its new proposal, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot stated that it was unacceptable.

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