A divided EU races against time to tap Russian assets for Ukraine

BRUSSELS — European leaders are racing to push through plans to unlock Russia’s frozen assets before Ukraine runs out of money and before the United States and Russia decide to use the funds as part of negotiations on the war.
As leaders of the European Union’s 27 nations convene here on Thursday, Kyiv’s chief backers vowed they would not leave until they agree on a way to finance Ukraine’s state and army.
EU officials hope to break the impasse over a plan to give Kyiv a “reparations loan” of about 210 billion euros over the next two years, underpinned by Russian assets. To do that, they need to overcome objections from Belgium, where most of the assets are held since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
But while they cast this as a do-or-die moment for Ukraine’s fate and Europe’s voice, the debate over money has thrown a harsh light on European divides.
The continent’s top leaders are issuing increasingly dire warnings. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU executive that drafted the plan, called this Europe’s “independence moment.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told his counterparts on Thursday they had a choice: “either money today, or blood tomorrow.”
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“I’m not talking about Ukraine only. I’m talking about Europe,” he added. “This is our decision to make. And only ours.”
The plan faces opposition from Belgium, where the funds are held in a financial services institution called Euroclear, despite weeks of tensions and a diplomatic flurry by the EU’s powerbrokers to get Belgian buy-in. Diplomats expect heated negotiations to go down to the last minute at the gathering of leaders.
Belgium, a founding member of the EU and home to its headquarters, finds itself in a delicate position, facing threats from the Kremlin and calls from its neighbors to play ball – even as it says it doesn’t have enough guarantees they will share the full risk of any Russian response.
Belgian officials – worried the plan will draw retaliation against Euroclear and expose the country to huge liabilities – also want other countries holding smaller pots of Russian funds to commit to using them. And Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has voiced concern that a US-brokered deal on Ukraine would want to tap into the funds as well.
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European officials say their decision, or lack thereof, sets the stage for how the EU meets this moment in the face of Russian threats, American antagonism, and the expensive bill of the war now resting with them.
It would also be a blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leverage and his European partners if Kyiv runs out of money to fight while Washington leads negotiations with Moscow over its future. European officials expect a funding crisis in Ukraine in early spring, adding to the urgency of endorsing a solution before the new year.
Ukrainian negotiators are en route to the United States to continue talks with President Trump’s administration, Zelensky said Thursday. The Kremlin, meanwhile, is also “preparing certain contacts with our American counterparts,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
As talks intensify, European officials say Moscow and Washington have both piled pressure on EU capitals that are squeamish about the proposal to tap into Russia’s central bank assets.
“I understand Belgium is under a lot of pressure from Russia, from European countries, but also from the United States,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters Thursday. As a result, she said, there should be a European agreement, so “whoever has any concerns can go to court against the European Union.” Kallas put the chances of a deal at “50/50.”
“We are 27 democracies, discussions take time,” she added. “We will stay here as long as we have to for a solution.”
The US interest in the Russian assets sets up a possible collision course between the Trump administration and European leaders. Though Europe holds most of the roughly $300 billion frozen in the West, versions of the US proposal for a peace deal have envisaged using some of it for US reconstruction efforts in Ukraine and joint US-Russian investments.
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European leaders see the Russian assets as a way “to send a signal to the Americans,” after Washington released a national security strategy berating the European Union, said Agathe Demarais, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former French treasury adviser in Russia.
The EU is trying to push back and “use the assets as leverage to count in the negotiations,” she added, while “Donald Trump the businessman sees $300 billion.”