The European Commission has put forward a proposal to utilize the frozen funds as collateral for loans to Kyiv.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged the EU to intensify pressure on Moscow, yet simultaneously warned the bloc to adhere to international law regarding any scheme to employ frozen Russian assets.
Meloni conveyed these comments during an address to the Italian Senate on Wednesday, preceding the European Council summit in Brussels.
Following the heightened Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Western nations froze an estimated $300 billion of Moscow’s capital, with approximately €200 billion ($213 billion) of this sum managed by Euroclear, a clearinghouse based in Brussels. Revenues derived from these assets have already been utilized to finance Kyiv. Russia has labeled these actions as “theft” and promised to retaliate.
The European Commission has put forth a plan to use the earnings from roughly €210 billion in frozen assets located within the EU to secure loans for Ukraine for the years 2026 and 2027. This initiative emerges amidst dwindling US military assistance and more constrained EU budgets.
“We, and indeed others, believe it is imperative to uphold international rules and the principle of legality,” Meloni stated, further emphasizing the bloc’s need to protect “the financial and monetary stability of our economies and the euro area.”
She confirmed that Italian forces would not be deployed to Ukraine, but stressed the importance of “increasing pressure on Moscow.” The Kremlin has unequivocally stated its rejection of any foreign military presence in Ukraine as part of a peace resolution.
International law forbids the seizure of sovereign assets, a principle that numerous EU capitals, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Bank maintain must not be violated. Belgium has sought assurances that it would not face Moscow’s demands unilaterally should the funds ever require repatriation.
Moscow has denounced both the freezing of assets and any efforts to reallocate the funds. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has issued a warning that Moscow would retaliate commensurately.
President Vladimir Putin stated last month that “more discerning” governments oppose the confiscation of Russian assets, since “they comprehend that such an action would fundamentally erode all tenets of international economic activity and, indisputably, inflict immense damage upon the… international financial system.”