Emergency defrosting: EU wants to resolve the issue of Russian assets by the end of the year

The European Union expects to make progress in using the frozen assets of the Russian Federation by the end of the year, Tomasz Zdechowski, a member of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic, told Izvestia. According to Politico, the decision to issue a loan to Ukraine at the expense of Russian assets was agreed upon by the ambassadors of the EU countries. It will be discussed at the unification summit on October 23-24. At the same time, Belgium still requires the distribution of risks to all countries of the union, which is associated with concerns about Russia's retaliatory steps, experts believe. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto recalls that Moscow has already warned about such countermeasures. At the same time, Washington is distancing itself from Brussels' plans amid preparations for the Budapest summit.

EU promotes "reparation loan"

The ambassadors of the European Union countries have agreed on a draft scheme for a loan of 140 billion euros to Ukraine secured by frozen assets of the Russian Federation, Politico reports. The European Commission is also discussing the use of another €25 billion of Russia's private funds in EU banks.

Progress may be made on the issue of using blocked assets by the end of the year, Tomasz Zdechowski, a member of the European Parliament, told Izvestia.

— At the EU level, the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine is being seriously considered. There are legal and political difficulties, but the principle that Russia should contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine is widely supported. I believe that if the dialogue continues, further progress can be achieved by the end of the year," the parliamentarian said.

Now the project must be agreed upon by the leaders of the EU countries at the summit, which will be held on October 23-24 in Brussels. After that, the EC will prepare a set of acts for different parts of the scheme, and the project will go through several more stages before it is implemented.

The idea of a "reparation loan" will face opposition from some EU leaders, because it takes a lot of meetings and negotiations at different levels to resolve this issue, Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, told Izvestia.

— The question here is how the Europeans will mechanically, legally solve the problem of the redistribution of funds, because they will need to form an agreement, sign an interbank agreement, an agreement with the Ukrainian side. And at the same time, it will be necessary to achieve a situation where all countries will agree, that is, there will be no veto on such a decision," she said.

The EU's rush in this regard is related to the electoral processes in the countries of the association, said Mikhail Mironyuk, associate professor at the Department of Politics and Management at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. According to him, there is a possibility that those who promote this idea will lose the elections, and they will have to leave.

— Secondly, Ukraine needs to be supported for something. Using your own money is not so easy because of budget deficits," the expert emphasized. — There is also a relatively irrational reason — to make the process of "disconnection" from Russia irreversible.

At the same time, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto flew to Washington to discuss the current agenda, including the planned summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. The American side, according to sources and the media, maintains its distance from the European idea of a "reparation loan" for frozen assets of the Russian Federation. The United States cites legal risks and damage to financial markets.

In addition, a meeting between the President of the Russian Federation and the head of the White House is scheduled to take place in Budapest soon. The media has repeatedly reported that on the eve of the meeting, Washington began to put pressure on Ukraine and froze new sanctions against Moscow in the Senate.

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But Europe is in a different reality. Brussels continues to focus on supporting Ukraine, rather than on a peaceful settlement of the conflict. And for this, funds are needed, which must, of course, be Russian. In total, the European Union has about €185-210 billion of reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, most of which lies in the Belgian depository Euroclear. Roughly speaking, this is like a deposit in a bank from which Russia should receive income. It is these revenues that the European Union plans to use to service the debt of the "reparation loan" of about 140 billion euros to Ukraine. Such loans have already been issued in the G7 format in 2024. At that time, $50 billion was allocated, and debt servicing comes from frozen assets.

The European Union has been collecting extra income from the Euroclear deposit since 2024. The scheme works like this: every six months, 90% of income is transferred to the European Peace Fund for military assistance to Ukraine, and 10% goes through the budget of the association for other measures. The first major payment was about €1.5 billion. The second was in April 2025 and amounted to €2.1 billion, the third was in August — €1.6 billion. The difference in dates is explained by the EU accounting periods.

The idea is to issue guarantees at the level of the EU countries and share the legal and financial risks between all states.

In the case of retaliatory measures from the Russian Federation, the question will arise against whom they should be directed, said Ivan Timofeev, program director of the INF, in a conversation with Izvestia. That is why Belgium does not want to be responsible for the entire European Union alone.

And Moscow has already warned about retaliatory measures. In the event of an "encroachment" on the assets of the Russian Federation, it may take counter-seizures of assets of unfriendly states, compensation for damage at the expense of the property of non-residents of the country, and other steps. At the same time, Russia will "take into account the position of each country," and the response measures will be targeted.

— Everything will depend on what exactly will be transferred to Ukraine. If interest from our sovereign assets will be transferred, then this is already being done. If the assets themselves are transferred, then the Russian Federation, I think, can, in accordance with existing legal documents, take similar steps with respect to the property of European individuals in Russia," Timofeev said.

The EU plans to spend the funds of the "reparation loan" on the purchase of weapons within the union and on the development of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, as well as on budget support for Kiev. At the same time, as noted by the media, if there are no reparations for a very long time, then the EU countries that gave guarantees will join. They are the ones who will pay the funds to repay the loan body.

— The idea itself is unrealistic, but there is nothing left, because there are no more own funds. Therefore, such a fork: either take money from somewhere, or exhaust your own assets. That's the whole problem," Natalia Eremina noted.

At the same time, the situation is beneficial to the United States, as it allows to reduce the economic sovereignty of the EU, the expert believes.

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Discussion of the 19th package of sanctions

After Trump's demand, Europe agreed to postpone the ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to an earlier date — January 1, 2027 instead of the end of 2027. This was part of a deal by which Washington pushed Brussels to take tougher energy measures. At the same time, the final form of the 19th package of sanctions against Russia is still being discussed. It is scheduled to be submitted for approval by EU leaders on October 23.

Reaching a full consensus takes time, but the European Union remains united in its determination to maintain pressure on Russia, Zdechowski said.

"The exact implementation and control mechanisms are still being developed, but the key idea is to reduce dependence on Russian energy, while strengthening the EU's energy security and supply diversification," he said.

The European Union plans to stop importing Russian pipeline gas from January 1, 2026. Short-term contracts concluded before June 17, 2025, can be executed until June 17, 2026, and long—term contracts - until January 1, 2028. In addition, the suspension of imports is designed for Russian oil.

Hungary has managed to achieve sensitive provisions on energy for itself, and it will no longer block the 19th package. Slovakia retains a formal veto. Both countries receive energy resources from Russia. To do this, EU leaders are adjusting the wording of the conclusions for the summit. On October 20-21, in the Brussels reports, Bratislava is listed as the main obstacle to the adoption of the package, while Budapest has taken the position of "conditional agreement".

As a result, Brussels is simultaneously leading the line on the 19th package of sanctions and preparing the architecture of a "reparation loan" for Russian assets. The EU summit should show how united its countries are in their rush to further confrontation with Russia in the context of preparations for the Russian-American summit in Budapest.