EU Foreign Ministers Meet in Ireland to Revive $233 Billion Frozen Russian Asset Plan, Belgium Still Says No

Since the Aug. 27 letter from four EU foreign ministers first surfaced, the push to unlock frozen Russian assets for Ukraine has landed squarely on the agenda of a two-day informal EU foreign ministers meeting in Wicklow, Ireland, that started today, Sept. 1.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain co-signed the letter, addressed to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, enlargement chief Marta Kos, and Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee, according to the Kyiv Independent, which reviewed a draft. Ireland holds the rotating EU Council presidency through December, giving it control over what gets discussed.

The number at stake: more than 200 billion euros, or roughly $233 billion, in Russian central bank assets frozen since the 2022 invasion, according to the Financial Times as cited by Ukrinform and European Pravda. Most of it sits with Euroclear, a financial infrastructure firm based in Belgium.

"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," Malmer Stenergard said, according to Ukrinform. She told Euronews separately that the goal is fairness to "Ukraine" and to "the taxpayers" who'd otherwise foot the bill directly.

Belgium's Objection Hasn't Moved

A plan to seize the assets outright collapsed last winter after Belgium blocked it, and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has demanded unlimited guarantees before signing off again, per the Kyiv Independent and cde.news.

Belgium's concern is concrete. Brussels has warned that confiscating a sovereign state's central bank reserves could trigger legal retaliation from Russia and rattle confidence in European financial markets broadly, since Euroclear is a systemically important clearing house. One person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda, that "nothing has changed since the debate and disaster last time." Belgium's financial-stability argument hasn't been answered by the four-country coalition beyond a pledge to "accommodate" Belgium's concerns.

The EU already approved a 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine in April 2026 meant to cover two-thirds of Kyiv's needs through 2027. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 24 that's not enough, and the European Commission has separately been pressing allied countries to fill the gap, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Same Meeting, More Fronts

The Wicklow gathering, known as the Gymnich session, also brings in Ukrainian, British and Canadian counterparts, according to Euronews and cde.news. Malmer Stenergard told Euronews that "Russia is losing territory, losing influence, losing men, and now they are obviously more desperate, testing us and testing our unity," pointing to an explosive-laden drone found at Leipzig airport in Germany earlier in August.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was expected to formally accuse the Kremlin of responsibility for that incident, which would mark the first time a European government has made such a direct accusation against Russia, according to Euronews and cde.news. Neither source confirmed the accusation had actually been delivered as of their reporting.

Separately, Sweden's military has begun helping Finland surveil and protect its territory through at least the end of the year, deploying JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets and a Visby-class corvette, the Finnish Defense Forces said in an Aug. 28 statement reported by the Epoch Times. Finnish officials stressed there's no direct military threat to Finland but noted Ukrainian drones have strayed into Finnish airspace during the war.

On the U.S. side, President Trump confirmed envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Kyiv in the coming weeks, their first visit to Ukraine since taking on the administration's peace negotiations, according to OilPrice.com. Zelensky said the two briefed him after their latest Moscow trip and that he had a "detailed and constructive" call with them. He also wrote on Telegram that "all the intel—both ours and our partners'—and all the signals from Russia indicate that the Russian leader personally wants more war."

Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov made a surprise appearance at a G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, his first such appearance since Russia's exclusion following the 2022 invasion. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called the move troubling, saying "people are dying every day" and that the U.S. host should not have received Siluanov "as a normal guest." No U.S. official has publicly explained why Russia was allowed to attend.

The frozen-assets question won't resolve at this meeting. The letter only asks for a first discussion and an update from the Commission on whether any legal workaround to Belgium's veto has been developed. Whether Belgium's financial-stability objection gets answered or simply overridden remains unclear heading into the EU's next budget cycle.