Voltaire Network | 5 December 2025

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• EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Estonian Kaja Kallas said on 1 December 2025: "It is clear that Russia does not want peace and, therefore, we need to make Ukraine as strong as possible so that it is ready to defend itself in this very, very difficult period. The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger it is in the negotiations."

She once again pleaded for ’reparation loans’ that would send ’a triple message’: ’a very strong message to Ukraine showing that we are here to help it defend itself’; ’a second message to Moscow showing that it cannot "outlive" us’; and ’a third message to Washington showing that we are taking very firm and credible action’.

• According to a preparatory document from the European Commission, three options were on the table:
 bilateral loans;
 a European loan pledged from the EU budget;
 a "repair loan" mobilizing the Bank of Russia’s assets immobilized in the EU, mainly within Euroclear, a central securities depository based in Belgium.

• If the European unilateral coercive measures against Russia are not renewed, Moscow will immediately take steps to recover the immobilized assets. The financial package of the envisaged "repair loan" provides for Euroclear to transfer very large amounts of cash in a very short period of time.

According to the Financial Times, the European Central Bank (ECB) has refused to act as lender of last resort to provide such liquidity, likening such a practice to substituting for the obligations of eurozone countries.

• EC President Ursula von der Leyen assures that she will only take €90 billion in Russian assets, but once instituted, the process could allow her to seize the whole of the frozen €210 billion.

• Belgium opposes anything that could be considered as a confiscation of Russian assets frozen at Euroclear. It intends to protect property rights and to protect itself in three ways:

(1) Participating EU countries will have to provide "legally binding, unconditional, irrevocable, on-demand, shared and solidary guarantees, based on their gross national income, to ensure that the European Union is always able to repay the funds without receiving compensatory payments from Ukraine".

They will have to pay their share of the guarantees that would go to countries which, like Hungary, do not participate in the future loan.

(2) In the event of a legal dispute initiated by the Russian authorities and based on the bilateral investment treaty between Belgium and Russia, the EU should assume any "financial responsibility" arising from a possible judgment.

The Belgian head of government is of the opinion that Russia will attack Euroclear’s assets, or those of its clients, located in Russia and in the countries allied with Moscow.

(3) EU Member States and G7 countries holding Russian public assets will have to take part in the financial operation.

• On 3 December, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal to continue financing Ukraine in 2026 and 2027, in line with the commitment made by the European Council at the end of October, excluding Hungary. The financial and legal burden will be shared among member states "fairly, as is the tradition in Europe," von der Leyen assured. This law would allow both to circumvent the rule of European unanimity and to demand a share from Hungary.

• On his arrival at the NATO Ministerial Meeting, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot expressed a "frustrating feeling of not having been heard". He considered that the European Commission’s proposal "does not satisfactorily address our concerns". However, "if the Member States wish to embark on this path, we demand that the risks that Belgium faces as a result of this scheme be fully covered". In other words, Belgium refuses to assume not only the entire risk, but even only its own share.

• President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde of France commented on 3rd December that the European Commission’s proposal is "exaggerated" and that she hopes it is in line with international law.

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Translation
Gregor Fröhlich