The U.S. has proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian assets — turning them over to Washington’s control as part of an effort to get Moscow to resume peace talks — the Financial Times reported on Oct. 15. According to the outlet’s four sources, the proposal was discussed at a meeting in Miami attended by representatives of the U.S., Ukraine, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the EU, and NATO.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came out against unfreezing Russian funds. “Those are assets that are frozen in Europe and they should remain frozen in Europe. This is our business and we are deciding over it,” Merz said ahead of the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.
In response to The Insider’s inquiry, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russia may act through intermediaries in its attempts to convince Belgian authorities to agree to unfreeze the assets.
“As for the frozen assets, I discussed this in detail with Belgium — and I am grateful to the prime minister [Bart De Wever] and his team, and to other EU leaders. Everyone understands that Russia will do everything it can to retrieve the frozen assets through one partner or another. It is a real risk. We have such information, but, again, we have discussed the details with the Europeans. Today the situation remains under Europe’s full control. So as of today, it is safe.”
This past September, the European Commission resumed work on scenarios for seizing the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank in Europe. One proposed option would involve the creation of a separate structure into which all such assets — including those currently being held at the Belgian depository Euroclear — could be transferred. The previous attempt to approve the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine was blocked by Belgium.
Euroclear holds most of the Russian assets frozen in the EU — €200 billion. Since February 2024, the organization has been using the interest generated by these assets to support the European Fund for Ukraine.
During his visit to Kyiv in mid-August, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said that his country is generally open to using frozen Russian assets but that other EU states must share with it all the associated risks. As Prévot previously stated: “If Russia takes us to court it will have every chance of winning and we, Belgium, will not be able to repay those €200 billion, because that represents the equivalent of an entire year of the federal budget. It would mean bankruptcy for Belgium.”
