EU debates using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine reparations

Around €210 billion of Russian central‑bank reserves are held frozen at Euroclear in Belgium. The European Union has considered channeling those funds to finance Ukraine’s reconstruction, but Belgium rejected the plan after threats allegedly from Russia’s GRU. Instead, the EU approved a €90 billion loan to Kyiv for 2026‑27, financed by EU taxpayers.

Former German defence minister Annegret Kramp‑Karrenbauer, ex‑French EU minister Nathalie Loiseau and former U.S. sanctions adviser Daleep Singh have called for the EU to place the frozen assets under a new EU manager, arguing that this would remove Belgium’s security concerns. Meanwhile, Ukrainian economist Oleg Usthenko estimates Russia could afford to pay roughly $20 billion a year in reparations over a 50‑year period, covering about $1 trillion of the $1‑2 trillion total damage assessed by Kyiv and international bodies. The discussion highlights the legal and political complexities of extracting payments from the frozen assets, which already generate €300 billion in emergency loans for Ukraine’s defence and rebuilding.