EU can gain by moving Russia’s frozen funds

European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters, on the day of a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 18, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) – The bloc balked at using $250 bln of central bank assets to help Ukraine after Moscow threatened Belgium, where most of the cash is parked. But if the EU shifts the account to a new custodian, it will be less susceptible to bullying. That will open lots of strategic options.

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Editing by Peter Thal Larsen; Production by Maya Nandhini

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Hugo Dixon is Commentator-at-Large for Reuters. He was the founding chair and editor-in-chief of Breakingviews. Before he set up Breakingviews, he was editor of the Financial Times’ Lex Column. After Thomson Reuters acquired Breakingviews, Hugo founded InFacts, a journalistic enterprise making the fact-based case against Brexit. He was also one of the founders of the People’s Vote which campaigned for a new referendum on whether Britain should leave the EU. He was one of the initiators of the G7’s “partnership for global growth and infrastructure”, a $600 billion plan to help the Global South accelerate its transition to net zero. He is now advocating a $300 billion “reparation loan” for Ukraine, under which Moscow’s assets would be lent to Kyiv and Russia would only get them back if it paid war damages. He is also a philosopher, with a research focus on meaningful lives.