Frozen Russian assets, the central bank reserves immobilised in Western institutions since the 2022 invasion, sit in the background of the US-Russia business talks the Financial Times described on October 27, 2026. The FT’s list of ideas under discussion, attributed to people familiar with the matter, does not mention the reserves. The peace plan those talks grew out of did, and Europe has since locked the money down on its own terms.
Any economic agreement, a US official said in the FT piece, “would be included in and subject to a comprehensive peace framework that stops the killing in this brutal war; nothing is finalised.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to the paper, and a spokesperson for Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s economic envoy, declined to comment.
Where it stands: In December 2025, EU governments agreed to keep the reserves immobilised indefinitely. As of October 28, no later move to release or spend the principal had been reported. In an interview the Kyiv Post reported on October 26, Volodymyr Zelensky said he did not want Ukraine to face Putin “lacking sanctions, funds, or frozen assets” at the table.
How much is in frozen Russian assets, and where is it held?
The answer depends on which pool you count. Each figure below covers a different scope, so they should not be compared as if they measured the same thing.
| Figure | What it covers | Reported by |
|---|---|---|
| €210 billion ($246 billion) | Russian sovereign assets under EU jurisdiction | Al Jazeera, Euronews (Dec 2025) |
| €185 billion | The part of that sum held at Euroclear | Euronews (Dec 11, 2025) |
| €193 billion ($226 billion) | Frozen assets held at Euroclear | AP (Dec 2025) |
| About €300 billion | Russian central bank assets across all G7 jurisdictions | Euronews (Nov 2025) |
Euroclear is a Brussels clearing house, a firm that settles and holds securities for banks and central banks. Its Brussels location is why Belgium’s government has been central to the argument over the money.
Euronews and AP gave different Euroclear totals a week apart, €185 billion and €193 billion. Neither report explains the gap.
Moscow contests the freeze. Al Jazeera reported that Russia’s central bank said it had filed a suit in Moscow against Euroclear, seeking damages over the loss of control of the reserves.
What did the 28-point plan propose for the money?
The late-2025 US draft would have turned part of the reserves into a commercial venture shared by Washington and Moscow. According to the FT, today’s business discussions build on proposals envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised with Dmitriev during work on that plan.
The text Reuters obtained said “$100 billion of the frozen Russian funds will be invested in a US-led effort to reconstruct and invest in Ukraine.” It added that “The US will receive 50% of the profits from this venture,” that Europe would match the contribution, and that the remainder would go into “a separate US-Russia investment vehicle.”
Euronews summed up point 14 as using the assets “for the commercial benefit of both Washington and Moscow, a contentious idea that Western allies quickly shot down.” Keir Giles, quoted by Al Jazeera, said Moscow’s negotiators had likely added the clause because Russia “has already written off frozen assets abroad, and now is dangling that as a carrot in front of the US”.
The draft did not last in that form. After Geneva talks in November 2025, the White House and Kyiv announced an “updated and refined” framework. Whether point 14 survived has not been made public. Our explainer on the 28-point plan’s business provisions covers the other economic clauses.
How did Europe lock the assets down?
The EU moved the freeze off its sanctions calendar and onto an emergency treaty clause, so a single government can no longer end it with a veto. Until then, Euronews noted, the funds sat under a regime that “depends on unanimity from all 27 and is vulnerable to individual vetoes.”
Ambassadors approved the change under Article 122 of the EU treaties, which needs only a qualified majority, a weighted vote of member states rather than all of them. Euronews dated that step to Thursday, December 11. Al Jazeera reported the governments’ agreement on Friday, December 12.
Euronews linked the move to concern in Europe about Washington’s intentions. The bloc acted “amid fears that the United States might seek control of the Russian funds and use them in a future settlement with Moscow to end the war,” it reported.
The release terms are strict. The money comes back only when Russia’s conduct has “objectively ceased to pose substantial risks” and Moscow has paid reparations to Ukraine, and a fresh qualified majority must vote for it. The law firm Mayer Brown wrote that the mechanism keeps the reserves frozen even if ordinary sanctions lapse.
Why did the reparations loan fail?
Belgium refused to carry the legal risk, and EU leaders borrowed instead. In October 2025, according to Al Jazeera, EU leaders had floated a plan to lend Ukraine $164bn backed by the frozen reserves.
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By the December summit, AP reported, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever had rejected the idea as legally risky and warned it could hurt Euroclear’s business. The Irish Times reported that the loan would have needed guarantees from other states “worth upwards of €200 billion” to cover Belgium’s exposure.
Leaders settled on a different instrument: “90 billion euros ($106 billion) of support to Ukraine for 2026-27,” as AP put it. For scale, AP cited an IMF estimate that Ukraine needs 137 billion euros across those two years.
What does US law say about releasing frozen Russian assets?
Washington cannot simply hand back the Russian sovereign assets that Treasury has blocked. The Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, known as the REPO Act and signed in April 2024, sets conditions first.
Section 103 says no such asset “may be released or mobilized” until the President certifies to Congress that hostilities between Russia and Ukraine have ceased, and that Ukraine has been fully compensated or Russia is taking part in a bona fide international mechanism to pay for those harms.
The law also requires notice to congressional committees “Not later than 30 days before the release or mobilization” of an asset, with a written justification. Lawmakers can stop a release if “a joint resolution is enacted into law prohibiting the proposed release or mobilization.”
Who is using the frozen assets as leverage now?
Kyiv treats the reserves as leverage, and European governments have insisted on a say in anything that touches EU interests. The Kyiv Post published Zelensky’s warning about reaching talks “lacking sanctions, funds, or frozen assets” one day before the FT story.
According to the FT, those Washington-Moscow conversations have gone ahead “without direct Ukrainian or European participation.” European diplomats have told US counterparts that decisions touching EU interests “cannot be taken without Europe’s approval,” the paper said. Our report on Europe’s objections to the deals covers that dispute.
The FT’s full list of proposals runs from Sakhalin-1 oil to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Dmitriev’s role is profiled in our piece on the sanctioned fund chief.
Under the December 2025 arrangement, the €210 billion stays immobilised until a new qualified majority of EU governments votes to release it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much frozen Russian money is in Europe?
Al Jazeera and Euronews reported that the EU immobilised 210 billion euros of Russian sovereign assets in December 2025. Euronews put 185 billion euros of that at Euroclear in Brussels, while AP reported 193 billion euros held there. Euronews estimated about 300 billion euros across all G7 jurisdictions.
Are frozen Russian assets part of the new US-Russia deal talks?
The Financial Times report of October 27 did not list them among the business ideas under discussion. They featured in the late-2025 28-point draft, which proposed putting 100 billion dollars into a US-led rebuilding effort. Whether that clause survived later revisions has not been made public.
Can the US release frozen Russian central bank assets on its own?
Not freely. A 2024 US law bars releasing Treasury-blocked Russian sovereign assets until the President certifies that hostilities have ended and Ukraine has been compensated or Russia has joined a compensation mechanism. It also requires 30 days of notice to Congress, which can pass a joint resolution to block the release.
Can one EU country unfreeze the Russian assets?
Not under the December 2025 arrangement. The EU moved the immobilisation to Article 122 of its treaties, which works by qualified majority rather than unanimity, and Euronews reported that a new qualified majority is needed to release the money.
What happened to the EU reparations loan for Ukraine?
It stalled after Belgium objected that using the Euroclear assets was legally risky. EU leaders instead agreed in December 2025 to provide 90 billion euros of support to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027.
Sources
- Washington discusses Russian deals for US oil majors in Ukraine peace talks — Financial Times, October 27, 2026
- EU triggers emergency clause to indefinitely immobilise Russian assets — Euronews, December 11, 2025
- EU indefinitely freezes hundreds of billions in Russian funds — Al Jazeera, December 12, 2025
- EU leaders agree on 90 billion-euro loan to Ukraine after a plan to use Russian assets unravels — The Associated Press (via News4JAX), December 19, 2025
- Ukraine deal: EU leaders agree €90bn loan after frozen Russian assets plan fails — The Irish Times, December 19, 2025
- Draft of U.S.-backed peace proposal for Ukraine — Reuters (via The Star), November 21, 2025
- US peace plan throws reparations loan for Ukraine into disarray — Euronews, November 21, 2025
- Trump’s 28-point Ukraine plan in full: What it means, could it work? — Al Jazeera, November 21, 2025
- US, Ukraine say Geneva talks produced ‘updated and refined’ peace framework — Anadolu Agency, November 24, 2025
- EU Fast-Tracks New Russia and Belarus Sanctions while Indefinitely Immobilizing Russian Sovereign Assets — Mayer Brown, December 19, 2025
- Zelensky: Ukraine Offered US 3 Ways to Stop Strikes on Russian Oil Refineries — Kyiv Post, October 26, 2026
- Public Law 118-50, Division F: Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act — U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), April 24, 2024
This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.