Name: EU unveils Ukraine funding plan using frozen Russian assets
Uploaded: 2025-12-04T15:40:21.705Z
Duration: 4 min 30 s
Description: The European Commission has presented a plan to use $105 billion of frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine over the next two years. The proposal, which includes the option of international borrowing, was rejected by Belgium, which holds the bulk of the assets and has insisted the plan poses a major financial and legal risk to the country.

The European Commission has presented a plan to use $105 billion of frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine over the next two years. The proposal, which includes the option of international borrowing, was rejected by Belgium, which holds the bulk of the assets and has insisted the plan poses a major financial and legal risk to the country.

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Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

The European Commission has put forward a proposal to use €90 billion from nearly €300 billion in frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine over the next two years. This amount does not cover all of Ukraine's financial needs, and the plan faces significant legal and political objections, particularly from Belgium, where most of the assets are held.

Belgium and other member states have expressed a preference for EU borrowing instead of using the frozen assets, citing legal risks. The Commission has included safeguards in its proposal to address these concerns, but consensus among all 27 EU members is still lacking. The issue is expected to be discussed further ahead of an upcoming European summit, with the outcome of the funding plan remaining uncertain.

EU unveils Ukraine funding plan using frozen Russian assets

For a start, the frozen assets is way bigger than 90 billion. Yes, I can explain the figure in a moment. Okay, explain the figure in a moment. It's 90 billion for a period of two years. So there's more, you're right. We're talking about almost 300 billion that are indeed frozen at the moment. But what the European Commission is saying is that we are going to use, for the time being, only 90 billion for the next two years to support Ukraine. That doesn't cover all the financing needs, but it's just what the Commission decided to put forward at this stage. I can see a flaw in this plan immediately. And I'm pretty sure as part of, I don't know, we are down to 27 bullet points or 28 bullet points between Putin and Trump at the moment. I'm pretty sure that part of that plan was you hand back those frozen assets. You're right. And there's so many angles we could take with the story because there are so many issues here, actually. So I'll try to explain it as best as I can Good enough for me, that's for sure. I'll do my best. So what the European Commission said yesterday was, OK, we need to support Ukraine with further financing. What we're suggested to do is to use the so-called frozen Russian assets that are held on the European continent. So what the Commission is trying to do here is to try to use the assets that are available across the bloc, not just in Belgium, because we know Belgium, where the majority of the assets are held, has had very strong legal concerns about this problem. But even before the Commission put forward this proposal, Belgium was already saying they had issues with it. We heard, for instance, from the Foreign Affairs Minister, Maxime Prévost, saying that they were going to plead for alternatives here. And indeed, they believe that EU borrowing is the best option rather than using the frozen Russian assets. What the European Commission also suggested yesterday was, if we don't go down the route of using the frozen Russian assets, we can indeed go to the markets and actually borrow cash to support Ukraine. But that is actually even more complicated from a European perspective, because in order to do so, you would need all of the member states, all of the 27, to say yes to that plan. And we know countries such as Hungary are likely to raise issues with that. So one EU official told me yesterday that by putting forward two proposals, what the European Commission is trying to do here is to show to the member states that the most viable option is still to go down the route of the frozen Russian assets. And here is the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, explaining that. We have listened very carefully to Belgium's concerns, and we have taken almost all of them into account. In our proposal that is today on the table of the reparations loans, we have very strong safeguards in place to protect member states and to reduce the risks as much as possible. So the European Commission believes that it has done enough, that this proposal will be enough to please Belgium and other countries. But we know that that's not the case. As I highlighted, Belgium already raised criticisms against this idea. However, the Prime Minister of Belgium also highlighted that they still have 14 days to find a solution before that European summit when they are supposed to agree on new funding for Ukraine. And the Prime Minister said, you know, 14 days is an eternity in politics. So let's see how the next couple of days will unfold, Steve, and whether they will manage to find an agreement. But at this stage, it is very uncertain how the EU is going to help Ukraine financially. We've got to have a correspondent wait. I'll just ask you one quick question, and if you can give me a very short answer. I'm sorry, why doesn't the EU just indemnify Belgium? Just like, bing, done. Then all Belgium's concerns are gone. I.e. make it an EU problem rather than the Belgium problem. Boom. Concerns go away. They can give them as much money as they like. The Commission says that's what they're doing. That this proposal is clearly stating that this is a problem for the bloc, that there will be national guarantees. We've been talking about this, I think, last year. We've been talking about this for a very long time. Why didn't they indemnify them a year or so ago and make sure those funds are available? I'm sorry, it just sounds so EU. I'll try to pose that question to my sources and see if I get something new from you. Your sources are very good as well. Thank you very much. See you a bit later. Thanks for coming on.

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EU unveils Ukraine funding plan using frozen Russian assets

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