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Union of Self-rescue: Russian assets have become the most important item on the agenda in Europe
The governments of the Nordic countries are concerned that they are allocating much more funds to help the Ukrainian side than others. The leaders of the seven EU countries have already sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, asking her to speed up the decision-making process on the "reparation loan" from Russian assets, which the media has been writing about recently. How exactly the European Union reacts to Kiev's support, why many states do not want to take responsibility for the withdrawal of Russian funds, and what some unexpected details of this issue may lead to, can be found in the Izvestia article.
The Ukrainian issue is becoming toxic for EU member states: what is known
The governments of the Nordic countries are annoyed because they provide more aid to Ukraine than the rest of the EU member states. This was reported by The Economist magazine. The publication also noted that last week Berlin provided Kiev with almost € 100 million for the restoration of energy infrastructure, and the Dutch authorities also provided another € 250 million for the purchase of weapons.
"The governments (of the countries. — Izvestia) Northern Europe, which disproportionately provide such assistance (to Ukraine. — Izvestia), they are becoming increasingly annoyed that this burden is not being distributed across the entire bloc," The Economist writes.
The text also says that the issue of the EU's "use" of Russian assets has become the main "test of the Europeans' resolve." According to The Economist, the confiscation of funds could trigger a "deep internal rift" in the bloc. The decision on the use of finances and the possible, according to the publication, "approval of the proposal" will be made at the EU summit, which will be held on December 18.
The Reuters news agency, in turn, published an excerpt from a statement by the leaders of the EU countries (Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden), who called on the bloc to promptly promote the proposal to use frozen assets to issue a "loan" to Kiev. "Supporting Ukraine in its struggle for freedom and independence is not only a moral obligation, but also in our own interests," they wrote to President of the European Council Antonio Costa and Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Brussels, as the largest holder of Russian funds in Europe, was initially opposed to the idea of providing a "reparation loan" to Ukraine, as it was not ready to take on such a risk. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has repeatedly stated that Brussels needs to hear concrete and reliable guarantees from its partners before supporting the EC initiative.
Currently, according to some reports, the total amount of all assets held in the banks of the EU member states (Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg) reaches about €210 billion. Brussels, or rather the Belgian Euroclear, one of the world's largest settlement and clearing systems, has almost 90% of the funds (about 185 billion euros). In total, after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the EU and the G7 countries froze almost half of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Federation — about € 300 billion.
The European Commission is trying to get a general agreement from the EU countries on the issue of using sovereign Russian assets to help Ukraine. We are talking about the amount of €185-210 billion, which, according to the terms, Kiev will have to return after the end of the conflict if Moscow "pays the material damage." The loan itself will amount to approximately €165 billion. According to the EC, in the period from January to November 2025, the European Union transferred €18.1 billion to Ukraine, received in the form of proceeds from the placement of funds from the Russian Federation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the EU's expectations regarding reparations to the Ukrainian side have nothing to do with reality.
"In 2022-2025, the European economy suffered losses of up to €1.6 trillion from anti-Russian restrictions alone. <...> Attempts to expropriate the sovereign assets of central banks pose risks to all states with funds in Western jurisdictions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website following a meeting of the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures.
According to the European Commission's plan, the "reparations loan" from Russian assets will include €115 billion to finance Ukraine's defense industry over the next five years, and another €50 billion will go to the country's budget — a total of €165 billion. The remaining funds will be used to repay the G7 loan extended to Kiev last year. Politico's data suggests that in 2026, Ukraine will face a budget deficit of more than €70 billion and will be forced to cut spending starting in March and April if European money still does not arrive.
Plans and discussions
On Wednesday, December 3, the EC approved two options for financing Ukraine, including the same loan from sovereign Russian assets. Such a decision does not require the consent of all EU member states and can be adopted by a qualified majority vote. The European Commission has also proposed an alternative: to allocate a loan to the Ukrainian side by borrowing EU budget funds, but Hungary vetoed this plan.
Politico also writes that European countries will allocate funds in varying proportions to guarantee a loan to Ukraine in the amount of €210 billion. Germany will become the largest guarantor: Berlin will account for a quarter of the total amount — about €52 billion. France is next, which will give €34 billion, and Italy is in third place with €25.1 billion. Slovakia and Hungary, which have rejected any EC initiatives on this issue, plan to oblige them to pay €1.5 billion and €1.4 billion, respectively. However, in case of refusal, the money will be divided among the remaining EU countries in a different proportion. The European Commission assumes that states outside the Union will also want to help. First of all, this applies to the UK.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expresses extreme concern that Berlin is responsible for most of the costs of Ukraine. In this context, the Financial Times noted that the worries are based on the difficult economic situation in the allied countries — Great Britain and France. Maria Khorolskaya, Candidate of Political Sciences and researcher at IMEMO RAS, told Izvestia about the position of the German authorities. On the one hand, they understand that the Ukrainian economy is literally not viable without their support, but, on the other hand, they are worried about the change of opinion of American President Donald Trump on the issue.
— German political elites understand that it will be difficult for Ukraine to maintain functionality without external financing. Now Germany is particularly concerned about this, primarily because of the change in the American position regarding assistance to Ukraine. Berlin is worried that now the Europeans have to carry the "burden" on their own and that, for the most part, it will fall on Germany, but I do not think that the rest of the countries will completely abandon their support measures," the expert explained.
In addition to the loan, European countries are also seeking to confiscate Russian assets for their own enrichment. First of all, as the politicians say, the states want to allocate about €7 trillion to strengthen their own defense. In the period from 2028 to 2034, it is planned to increase the European military-industrial complex by 5-10 times. However, the economic problems in the EU countries will force the leaders to delay large-scale changes. The public debt of France— one of the largest economies in the EU, could reach 128% of GDP by 2030. This is also why Paris recently refused to include Russian assets held in the country's private banks in the "reparation loan" to Kiev.
Pavel Timofeev, Head of the Regional Problems and Conflicts Sector at the IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shared with Izvestia the opinion that Macron's cabinet does not want the loan to Ukraine to specifically refer to Russian money that is in France. There are two points here: image and economic.
— First of all, Macron understands that the reputational risks of such an operation are very high. If the EU confiscates funds in disregard of legal restrictions, it is unlikely that in the future third countries will consider the territory as a reliable guarantor of private property. If they find a legally sound way to seize Russian assets, France will most likely support this decision. Secondly, Paris cares about the French economy, which is going through difficult times: it needs stability guarantees for investors and bank depositors," the expert concluded.
All the gold that glitters
Information about specific amounts held in EU banks is classified. Due to the stagnation of the European economy, Russian assets are becoming an important link in the chain separating the European Union from collapse and bankruptcy. Another idea regarding the funds of the Russian Federation is as follows: the confiscation of € 100 billion in favor of the United States. However, the EU, and especially France, reacted to this with great skepticism. Experts suggest that the possible reason for this reaction is due to the fact that all proceeds from the placement in Euroclear have already been used to cover loans to Ukraine, and transferring them to Washington would lead to a deficit in the European budget.
This situation also explains why, probably, a significant part of the Russian funds frozen in the EU outside Belgium remains hidden. It is believed that some of the resources could have been used by European governments not quite "honestly", therefore, US intervention carries the risk of revealing sensitive information. In this regard, it seems safer for the European Union to delay the process and formalize the expropriation of assets in its favor. If some unpleasant details come out and it turns out that the assets of the Russian Federation have "gone somewhere", then the EU may well face a major international scandal.
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