Russia’s security council chief warned on Thursday that should the European Union use its seized frozen assets to support Ukraine, that could be tantamount to justification for war.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has been looking at how to use frozen Russian assets held in Europe to further support Ukraine.
The move could be tantamount to an act justifying war, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a comment posted to Telegram and translated by Google.
“If a frantic European Union attempts to steal Russian assets frozen in Belgium by issuing a so-called reparations loan, such actions could be classified under international law as a special kind of casus belli, with all the ensuing consequences for Brussels and individual EU countries,” Medvedev said, referring to the Latin phrasing for an act that justifies war.
Russia has previously said it would retaliate if the EU went ahead with using frozen assets option.
The Commission has argued that the move is not theft, given it would be a loan and Ukraine would only have to repay it if Russia pays reparations.
Russia and the European Commission did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Unlocking $105 billion
On Wednesday the Commission proposed a “Reparations Loan” for Ukraine which would involve using cash from the balances of European financial institutions holding frozen Russian Central Bank assets. It also proposed borrowing the funds from international markets, offering member states an alternative to using Russian capital.
Under the proposal to use the frozen assets, it plans to unlock 90 billion euros ($105 billion) for the effort, which is around two-thirds of the International Monetary Fund’s $136.5 billion estimation of Ukraine’s financing gap for 2026 to 2029.
“With Russia continuing to show no sign of willingness to commit to a just and sustainable peace, the strain on Ukraine’s resources continues to grow, making sustained EU support all the more vital,” the Commission said in a statement.
So far, European countries have used the profits generated by such assets to financially aid Kyiv, but some European leaders have expressed concerns about further measures due to potential financial and legal issues.
Belgium has been particularly tough on the subject, given that it hosts Euroclear — the financial institution that has the bulk of Russia’s state assets which have been frozen in Europe since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Belgium’s leadership has expressed concerns about the legal implications once the war is over and wants EU countries to commit to burden-sharing the responsibilities.
One EU official, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic, told CNBC, “If the EU chooses to borrow money to support Ukraine, this will need unanimity. If they choose to use the frozen assets then you can approve the plan by qualified majority.”
Hungary is against giving further cash to Ukraine, creating a barrier to achieving unanimity on the issue.
Another EU official, who also did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the talks, told CNBC: “By putting forward two solutions to fund Ukraine, “the European Commission wants to show that the only alternative is much worse for many more member states.”
The U.S. pushes for peace deal
It comes as peace negotiations continue. Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s national security council, will meet U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for talks in Miami on Thursday. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is in Beijing on Thursday for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The French leader is expected to urge his Chinese counterpart to do more to cooperate on Ukraine resolution.
Discussions held between Russia and the U.S. failed to deliver a breakthrough on Tuesday, though U.S. President Donald Trump said that talks between his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Witkoff and Moscow were “reasonably good,” per reports.
It’s unclear which peace plan was presented to the Russians after an initial 28-point plan, secretly devised by the U.S. and Russia, was presented to Ukraine a few weeks ago.
Speaking at the 2025 Investor Summit conference at the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, Kim Darroch, who served as the U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S. during Trump’s first term, said: “I don’t think the Ukraine war is going to end anytime soon, unless the Ukrainians agree to capitulate and give up territory, plus to never join NATO, and this kind of stuff which I think is basically impossible to concede and survive politically.”
“So, I think the war will drag on through the winter and beyond, which potentially is very dangerous for Europe because I think if Trump can’t get a deal he may just walk away and stop weapons supplies to Ukraine and tell the Europeans, ‘it’s your problem, I tried to get a deal, so you do it.’ And then I’m not sure we actually have the capacity to provide Ukraine with what it needs.”
— CNBC’s Chloe Taylor contributed to this report.
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