Russia is pursuing roughly $230 billion in damages from Euroclear as it pushes back against the freezing and potential repurposing of Russian assets to support Ukraine. The Russian central bank disclosed on Monday that it is seeking 18 trillion roubles in compensation, a figure reported by domestic state media to reflect a case opened last week.
EU leaders are expected to decide later this week whether to use about €210 billion of frozen Russian assets to back a loan for Ukraine. The bulk of that sum—around €185 billion (about £162 billion)—is held at the Euroclear central securities depository in Brussels, which safeguards most of Moscow’s immobilized funds.
EU officials argue the plan is legally defensible because Russia remains the rightful owner of its sovereign wealth, which was frozen in European jurisdictions soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Moscow calls the asset use theft and has warned it could retaliate by seizing European private investors’ holdings inside Russia. Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a key figure in peace discussions, posted on X that Moscow “will win in court” and “get [the assets] back,” warning that the EU, the euro, and Euroclear would bear the consequences of the plan.
Dmitriev framed the move as part of a broader clash with Western financial institutions, describing it as a “vicious attack on property rights and the international reserves system created by the United States.” Euroclear declined to comment and has noted it faces more than 100 lawsuits in Russia.
In the EU, judges in member states are unlikely to recognize Russian court rulings. Analysts expect Russia to explore enforcement in countries with historical ties to Moscow, potentially pursuing actions in China, Hong Kong, the UAE, Kazakhstan, and other favorable jurisdictions if assets can be identified, according to Reuters sources.
EU officials say they are developing measures to deter other states from assisting Russia’s legal actions against Europeans and to safeguard EU members’ assets in Russia from unlawful expropriation.
The proposed arrangement would see the EU provide an initial €90 billion loan for Ukraine using the Euroclear funds, while Russia’s claim to the assets would remain unresolved. Kyiv would only repay the loan if Moscow agrees to pay reparations for the extensive devastation caused by nearly four years of war.
Belgium, with support from Italy, Bulgaria, and Malta, has urged the EU to consider an alternative funding path: a unified EU borrowing initiative to back a loan secured against unallocated EU budget funds. Achieving such a plan requires unanimous consent from all 27 member states, and Hungary’s government, which has friendly ties to Moscow, has signaled opposition.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas emphasized that reparations-funded lending remains the most credible option for aiding Ukraine. She noted that using frozen assets would avoid tapping taxpayers’ money at home and would send a strong message that those harmed must pay reparations for the damage caused.
