A group of EU member states has formally asked the European Commission to revive discussions on using frozen Russian central bank assets to help fund Ukraine’s defense needs. The letter, dated August 27, 2026, was signed by Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland, and it arrives at a particularly uncomfortable moment for Brussels.
Ukraine is currently staring down a €23 billion shortfall in its defense budget, even after the EU agreed to a €90 billion loan package back in December 2025. That loan, notably, was structured without touching the principal of the frozen Russian reserves, a deliberate legal sidestep that is now looking increasingly inadequate.
Close to €210 billion in Russian central bank assets remain immobilized, the vast majority held at Euroclear in Belgium. These funds were frozen shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
So far, the EU has taken a conservative approach. Rather than touching the principal, it has been siphoning off windfall profits generated by those idle assets. That strategy has produced €8 billion for Ukraine support to date, including €1.4 billion transferred as recently as August 2026.
The letter from the four countries stops well short of calling for outright confiscation, which would face serious legal challenges under international law. Instead, it requests that the Commission restart technical discussions on alternative frameworks for how these immobilized reserves could be put to work without crossing lines that could expose the EU to liability.
