EU Envoys Revisit Russian Asset Seizure Plan Ahead of Commission–Belgium Talks

Overview

• Ambassadors from the 27 EU states are set to review the Commission’s expropriation proposals on November 5 at Coreper, with no practical decisions expected.
• Senior European Commission and Belgian officials plan a November 7 meeting to try to break the impasse over using frozen Russian sovereign assets.
• The Commission intends to present alternative financing options, including joint borrowing, to support a proposed €140 billion loan for Ukraine if asset seizure remains blocked.
• Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever blocked the plan at the October 23 summit, seeking EU-wide legal and budget guarantees to share potential compensation risks, plus changes to sanction-renewal rules.
• The Commission warns delays make action harder and could force national budgets to fund Kyiv, while more than €200 billion of Russia’s roughly €300 billion in frozen reserves sits largely at Belgium-based Euroclear and Moscow threatens retaliation.