Overview
- The European Commission’s preferred approach would use immobilized Russian central bank assets in Europe to underpin a €140 billion reparations loan for Ukraine.
- Belgium, which hosts Euroclear holding most of the assets, objects over litigation and liability concerns, leaving the proposal stalled.
- In a speech to the European Parliament, von der Leyen for the first time publicly set out alternatives—common EU borrowing or national funding—that officials warn would be costlier for heavily indebted countries.
- EU finance ministers are taking up the issue now, with leaders aiming to reach a political decision at a summit in December.
- New reporting warns Ukraine could face a budget shortfall as early as February 2026, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged swift action while encouraging U.S. President Donald Trump to act on Russian assets frozen in the United States.