In a plan of the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom and Canada will participate in the exploitation of a part of the nearly $ 300 billion in Russian central banks’ assets held by G7 countries in an effort to boost their financial support to Ukraine.
The EU is in agreement to provide loans through a mechanism that will prevent them from the immediate seizure of assets. The loans will help the country buy weapons, including from the US, as President Donald Trump’s government has decided to start charging for them. They will also aim to boost Ukraine’s wider economy, according to Bloomberg.
UK sanctions have freely frozen Russian assets over £ 25 billion ($ 33.3 billion), according to the latest March Foreign Ministry data, while the EU owns about 200 billion euros ($ 232 billion). So far, funding sent to Ukraine by immobilized Russian assets has been limited to the profits and interests that result from them. Most are held through Euroclear set -offs based in Belgium, leading to reluctance from Belgium and others.
Belgium continues to push for a specific foster agreement if Russia is making future claims on assets, providing the main friction point for conversations, according to a person who knows the matter and requested not to be named, discussing private conversations. The EU or a group of Member States will provide Euroclear guarantees to ensure that it can satisfy any possible Russian claims if they arise through legal appeals.
The EU will seek to reach a political agreement on the use of assets at a meeting in Brussels next week, after which it will quickly start work on a money release mechanism until the second quarter of the following year, as Bloomberg had previously mentioned.
UK prime minister, Kir Starmer, said Britain is ready to tune with the EU on this issue after telephone with the leaders of France and Germany last week. The three said they want to work with other G7 nations, including the US, where some of the chapters are kept.
“We are ready to move forward, in a coordinated way, the value of the immobilized Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine’s armed forces and, therefore, to bring Russia to the negotiating table. Our goal is to do this in close cooperation with the US », E3 leaders said in a statement on Friday (10.10.25). “We agree to develop further bold and innovative mechanisms to increase Russia’s war costs and increase pressure. This involves promoting action in the Russian shadow fleet ».
G7 finance ministers will discuss the plan this week, as the International Monetary Fund holds its annual meetings in Washington, as well as further common sanctions between allies targeting the Russian energy sector, companies supporting Russian oil trade and Russian trade.