The EU has found a way to freeze Russia's assets indefinitely to finance Ukraine

European officials in Brussels has found a way to make decisions on blocking Russian assets without the consent of all EU member states. This statement was made by the Financial Times (FT) newspaper.

As noted in the article, the solution found will allow to freeze the assets of the Russian Federation indefinitely, and not to extend the lock every six months, as it is happening now. According to the publication, the right to do so is given by one of the articles on the EU treaties, which provides that a unanimous decision is not required in cases of economic shocks, to which Brussels refers to the "war on Ukraine".

Until now, when deciding on the extension of the lock, there was a risk that one of the EU countries, for example, Hungary, would oppose this, and without a unanimous decision, the assets would be unfrozen, the newspaper points out.

EADaily adds: in early December, the European Commission approved two options for financing Ukraine for the period 2026 and 2027. The first plan involves the provision of a loan with the involvement of market capital, which will be guaranteed by the budget of the European Union, and the second — the issuance of a "reparations loan" at the expense of frozen assets of the Bank of Russia. One of these options should be approved by the Council of the European Union in December. In total, the European Commission offered to provide Kiev with 210 billion euros. Of this amount, 140 billion euros can be withdrawn from the Bank of Russia's account in the Belgian depository Euroclear, and another 25 billion euros from accounts in other European countries.

About 210 billion euros of sovereign assets of the Russian Federation have been blocked in Europe, of which 185 billion are in accounts with the Euroclear depository. The exact location of the remaining 25 billion euros is neither the European Commission nor the country The EU was not officially informed.

On December 5, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever and assured him that Berlin would provide about 25% of the amount of 210 million euros, Politico reported. Germany's share will be the largest in the EU.

"We had a very constructive exchange of views on this issue," he said after dinner with the Belgian leader. "Belgium's concern about how to use frozen Russian assets is absolutely justified and should be taken into account in any possible decision in such a way that all European states bear the same risk."

The Russian authorities have repeatedly stressed that the expropriation of its assets The Russian Federation will become a theft. Moscow warned that Russia's reaction would "follow immediately" and force the West to "count losses." The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the EU's attempt to confiscate frozen Russian sovereign assets poses a threat to all states that keep funds in Western banks.