Lithuanian FM urges EU to revisit use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys called on the European Union on Wednesday to resume discussions on using frozen Russian assets to help finance Ukraine’s military and civilian needs.

“We had the interim solution with the financing the military needs. But now with the new demands and the new situation in Ukraine, we see that we need more finances and a longer-term vision, not only for military needs but also for civilian needs,” Budrys told reporters ahead of an EU foreign affairs council meeting. “So yes, this is the reason why this topic must be on the table.”

The call comes as discussions have resurfaced over whether the EU should use about 200 billion euros in frozen Russian central bank assets to help finance Ukraine.

The EU is also considering plans to add about 1,600 companies and individuals to its already extensive sanctions list targeting Russia over its war against Ukraine.

“We first have to prolong, without any political delay, individual sanctions and expand them to all the other sectors that we were leaving behind,” Budrys said. “And, of course, we have to target the prime energy companies.”

Budrys also said Russia does not perceive a sufficient political cost for its hybrid activities against EU and NATO member states.

“For them, it is a cheap way to cause tension in our society,” he said. “So our goal is to show that this activity will neither intimidate us nor prevent us from supporting Ukraine and maintaining pressure on Russia.”

Since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has frozen around 210 billion euros in Russian central bank assets. Most of the assets, about 185 billion euros, are held by the Brussels-based central securities depository Euroclear.

Belgium opposed an EU proposal in December 2025 to use Russian cash as collateral for a loan to Ukraine. The country sought guarantees from other EU countries that they would share legal responsibility in the likely event of Russia challenging the move in courts. Failing to secure the guarantees, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever shot down the effort led by Germany and the European Commission to use the Russian assets to give a loan to Kyiv which would only be repaid if Russia agreed to pay reparations.

Last week, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain once again called on the European Commission to explore new ways to use the immobilised Russian assets to support Ukraine.

The call was rejected by the Belgian defence minister.

“This is non-negotiable, the door is closed,” Theo Francken told Terzaken, on Flemish TV channel VRT, on Friday night.

“Our prime minister will stand firm,” he added.

He singled out the Baltic states, among the strongest supporters of the reparations loan, for refusing to drop the issue.

“They should also be careful about constantly bringing this issue up again and putting us in a corner. I don’t think that is wise,” Francken said, pointing out that Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia receive a lot of support from Belgium.

Russia’s central bank sued Euroclear in a Moscow arbitration court last December, seeking damages over the freezing of Russian assets under EU sanctions.

In May, the Moscow court ruled that Euroclear must pay roughly 220 billion euros in damages, according to Euroclear’s lawyers. Euroclear then sued the Russian central bank in a Belgian civil court in June to block enforcement of the Russian judgment, according to Reuters.

Euroclear says it froze the assets in compliance with EU rules.