Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Beijing, December 18 (Xinhua) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to European leaders on Wednesday evening, hoping that the EU summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday could reach a consensus on using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine. However, as US media reported the same day, the US administration has recently been pressuring EU member states to abandon this plan at the upcoming summit.
V. Zelenskyy will attend the EU summit in Brussels. He stated that Ukraine needs real protection, security measures, and financial solutions, especially a political solution to the use of Russia's frozen assets.
This summit will be the last meeting of EU leaders this year and will focus on issues such as aid to Ukraine. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas stated on Monday that the EU is discussing various financing options for Ukraine, with a reparations loan being the preferred option for Kyiv.
On December 12, the EU decided to "indefinitely freeze" Russian assets on its territory and intends to determine a specific plan for their use at the upcoming summit. At the October summit, EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on a reparations loan due to objections from Belgium and other countries.
Russia has repeatedly expressed disagreement with the EU's handling of its sovereign assets, warning of possible retaliatory measures. On December 12, the Bank of Russia filed a claim in the Moscow Arbitration Court against the Belgian depository Euroclear for 18.17 trillion rubles (approximately 196 billion euros) in damages.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reported that several weeks ago, in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he asked how Moscow would respond if the EU decided to confiscate its financial assets frozen in the West. Moscow's response stated that if the EU expropriates Russian assets, "a decisive response will follow, using all instruments of international law."
Following the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries froze almost half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves, amounting to approximately €300 billion. Of this, over €200 billion is held in the EU, including €180 billion held by Belgium's Euroclear, one of the world's largest clearing and settlement systems. The European Commission reported that from January to November 2025, the EU transferred €18.1 billion to Ukraine from proceeds from Russia's frozen assets.
The US administration has recently been pressuring EU member states to abandon a plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine at the upcoming EU summit, according to a report by the US publication Politico on Wednesday, citing four European officials.
The report claims that representatives of the Donald Trump administration, bypassing EU decision-making bodies, are directly and secretly communicating with EU member state governments, leading Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, and the Czech Republic to join the ranks of opponents. One senior EU official familiar with EU-US relations and summit preparations stated, "They want to weaken us."
In previous EU discussions, Hungary, Slovakia and other countries have consistently opposed the use of approximately €210 billion in frozen assets from the Russian Central Bank to support Ukraine.
Analysts note that Ukraine will face a budget deficit of €71.7 billion next year. If funds are not received by April next year, Ukraine will be forced to cut public spending. According to the American "peace plan" for Russia and Ukraine, the US hopes to use some of Russia's frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine under US leadership.
Politico notes that the deep disagreement among European countries over the use of frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine reveals a deeper rift across the European continent over how to respond to the new world order and unprecedented pressure from the United States.
V. Orbán announced on Wednesday that the European Commission had removed the issue of confiscating Russian assets from the EU summit agenda. He said that instead of seizing Russian assets, there is a proposal for a joint loan from EU countries to Ukraine.
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