EU freezes Russian assets ahead of pivotal Ukraine talks

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The European Union indefinitely froze 210 billion euros of Russian sovereign assets held in the bloc on Friday as Kiev and its European allies sought to strengthen their position at a critical stage of US-organized peace talks.

The freeze paves the way for raising a loan against assets to support Ukrainian defense. EU leaders must still overcome strong objections from Belgium, where most assets are held, at next week’s summit.

Italy also sided with Belgium. In a statement issued on Friday evening, the two countries – along with Bulgaria and Malta – urged the EU to “further explore and discuss alternative options” to meet Ukraine’s financial needs, possibly through an EU loan facility, which they said would pose “significantly lower risks.”

Moscow also responded, filing a lawsuit against Euroclear, the Brussels-based depository that holds most of the assets, potentially allowing Russia to seize the company’s assets held within the country.

The moves came as the Trump administration intensified pressure on Kiev to sign a peace deal with Russia by Christmas on largely unfavorable terms that were first drawn up between Washington and Moscow.

European leaders have closed ranks with Ukraine as it seeks to avoid being forced into what many Ukrainians and Europeans see as surrender.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to travel to Berlin on Monday to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other European leaders. Zelensky said that they will discuss the security guarantees that European capitals will provide to Ukraine as part of a peace settlement.

Ukrainian negotiators, with the support of European officials, have sought to improve the terms of the US-brokered peace proposal, trying to play to strengths while also considering previously unthinkable concessions.

A revised peace proposal drawn up by Ukrainian and European officials and sent to Washington this week calls for Ukraine to join the European Union by 2027, an accelerated timeline that would tear apart the bloc’s existing accession procedures.

A French official said intense diplomacy was underway to find “common ground” between the Ukrainians, Europeans and Americans on a new version of the agreement that could then be presented to Russia.

“When we see her, I feel like we won’t like her very much,” said Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin.

While the European Union made its moves on Russian assets, Zelensky made a surprise visit on Friday to the frontline city of Kubyansk in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow claimed to have captured weeks ago. Zelensky said the Ukrainian army was pushing Russian forces back, claiming that its resistance there would strengthen Ukraine’s position in the talks.

“This is exactly the way things are going: all our strong positions inside the country become strong positions in discussions about ending the war,” he said.

However, Russian forces continue to advance along other axes across the 1,200-kilometre front line, increasing pressure on the war-weary Ukrainian army.

European officials remain highly skeptical that Russia will agree to anything that falls short of their ultimate goals, which include subjugating Ukraine.

Zelensky said that Ukraine is discussing with US officials the details of a possible “free economic” or “demilitarized” zone in Donetsk Oblast, which Moscow insists on Ukraine surrendering as the price for any agreement. He ruled out handing over territory, but noted that Ukrainian forces could withdraw from the line of contact in the region if Russian forces did the same and Ukraine received strong security guarantees.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Zelensky “demonstrated over the past nine months his willingness to create the conditions for a just and lasting peace agreement, not surrender. It is now up to Vladimir Putin to take the final step and put an end to this imperialist and colonial war.”