During the summer, when the EU’s sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan visited Washington, US officials “told him in no uncertain terms that their plan was to return the assets to Russia after the signing of any peace plan,” they shared.
Trump’s original peace plan for Ukraine, leaked last month, included investing $100 billion of immobilized Russian assets in US-led efforts to rebuild Ukraine, with the remainder going toward a “separate US-Russian vehicle,” Politico continued.
Belgium blocked the European Commission’s plan to seize Russian assets under the guise of providing a reparations loan to Ukraine at the EU summit on October 23, fearing that Russia might take retaliatory measures and demanding EU countries provide legal guarantees against future financial losses. The decision was postponed until the EU summit set for December, while the European Commission was instructed to work out various loan options for Ukraine for 2026-2027.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Russia’s response would be very harsh and painful if EU countries use frozen Russian assets for a Ukraine loan.
