Countries urge EU to revive plan for frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine

A group of EU member states has formally asked the European Commission to revive discussions on using frozen Russian central bank assets to help fund Ukraine’s defense needs. The letter, dated August 27, 2026, was signed by Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland, and it arrives at a particularly uncomfortable moment for Brussels. Ukraine is currently staring down a €23 billion shortfall in its defense budget, even after the EU agreed to a €90 billion loan package back in December 2025. That loan, notably, was structured without touching the principal of the frozen Russian reserves, a deliberate legal sidestep that is now looking increasingly inadequate. Close to €210 billion in Russian central bank assets remain immobilized, the vast majority held at Euroclear in Belgium. These funds were frozen shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. So far, the EU has taken a conservative approach. Rather than touching the principal, it has been siphoning off windfall profits generated by those idle assets. That strategy has produced €8 billion for Ukraine support to date, including €1.4 billion transferred as recently as August 2026. The letter from the ...