EU countries including Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland are urging Brussels to renew efforts to leverage immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine, in response to fears that Kyiv faces a renewed funding crisis. Plans to fund Ukraine using more than €200bn in Russian central bank assets held in the EU under sanctions collapsed last winter as Belgium, where the majority are held, blocked the initiative. A letter from a coalition of states to the European Commission will call on the EU’s executive to restart work on the concept and seek clarity on any progress in alternative legal and technical frameworks.

Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said, "Now is the time to start a new discussion about how we can make further use of Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine’s, and our, benefit." The EU froze Russian assets in the first days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Profits from the assets held at Euroclear are already funding a loan of up to €50bn agreed in 2024. Kyiv also requires additional financing beyond a €90bn loan raised against the bloc’s budget last December.

Belgium blocked the plan last year due to concerns it would have to shoulder repayment if Russia challenges the move legally. EU officials say no new proposal has yet avoided the same political barriers, but they believe tinkering with existing legal proposals could succeed if the political environment changes.