Russia on Monday cautioned that it would target any European nation attempting to seize its assets, following reports that the European Union is exploring ways to use hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine.It has warned that any seizure of its assets would amount to theft by the West and erode trust in US and European bonds and currencies.The European Commission is reportedly weighing a plan to tap Russian cash deposits at the European Central Bank from maturing bonds to fund a “Reparations Loan” for Ukraine.“If this happens, Russia will pursue the EU states, as well as European degenerates from Brussels and individual EU countries who try to seize our property, until the end of the century,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said through Telegram.Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said Moscow would go after European states “in all possible ways” and “in all possible international and national courts” as well as “out of court.”Earlier this month, Medvedev warned that Russia would seize more Ukrainian territory and target British assets worldwide after London revealed it had used about $1.3 billion from frozen Russian funds to supply weapons to Ukraine, as reported by Reuters.
EU finds “creative way” to fund Ukraine’s defence
The European Commission is exploring a plan to channel billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine by using cash balances tied to those assets and replacing them with EU-backed IOUs. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the EU must find new ways to fund Ukraine’s defense against Russia through these frozen holdings.The proposal, described by one official as “legally creative”, could unlock significant new funding for Kyiv’s war effort while avoiding the legal risks of directly expropriating Russian assets, as cited by Politico. Until now, the EU has used interest from frozen Russian assets to cover its share of a €45 billion G7 loan to Ukraine, which is almost fully disbursed. With Kyiv running low on funds, the Commission now wants to tap Russian deposits at the ECB to finance a “Reparations Loan” for Ukraine’s longer-term support.“Ukraine will only pay back the loan once Russia pays for the reparations. The money will help Ukraine already today,” Von der Leyen told the European Parliament. Nearly €200 billion in Russian assets were frozen after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, most of them held by Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear. Ukraine now faces an estimated €8 billion budget gap next year.The proposed plan, whose formal proposal is yet to be tabled, has drawn cautious interest but no commitments. Belgium and Euroclear have also warned that directly using the frozen assets to issue a loan could trigger legal complications.
