The central bank wants to invest billions in joint economic projects: Russian ruler Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.Image: keystone
US President Donald Trump wants to make a profit from peace in Ukraine. A heated dispute has broken out over Russia’s frozen central bank funds. Europe is in danger of being ripped off.
November 29, 2025, 07:54November 29, 2025, 07:54
Remo Hess, Brussels / ch media
Politics is often a dull, even boring business. But sometimes it turns into a real crime thriller.
Now it’s that time again: It’s about the Russian central bank’s approximately 210 billion euros, frozen in the European countries. A heated argument broke out over her. A power struggle is raging full of intrigue, deals in the shadows and mysterious motives. But first things first.
The lion’s share of the money is held by the Belgian financial service provider Euroclear in Brussels. The EU states actually wanted to transfer 140 billion euros of this to the Ukrainians in a “loan” so that they can keep their state and military afloat in the next two years. Time is of the essence: by the beginning of spring at the latest, Ukrainians are in danger of running out of money.
But now, in addition to the general time pressure, US President Donald Trump also has his eye on Putin’s central bank treasure. Or to put it another way: “Trump wants to grab the central bank money,” says an EU diplomat.
Putin wants to do business with Trump and he is intimidating Europe
This became clear in the 28-point peace plan, which was drawn up in close cooperation between Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin’s close adviser Yuri Ushakov. Point 14 states that 100 billion of the frozen funds should be invested in Ukraine for the profit of US companies.
The rest will be shifted to a financial vehicle to finance American-Russian economic projects. Trump, it seems, wants to make a lot of money from peace in Ukraine – and the Kremlin has no problem with that.
This puts Europe under pressure. If it wants to make Russian state money available to Ukraine, it has to move quickly. The problem is that not only is Trump lurking on one side, but Putin is also threatening on the other. He talks about “theft” and tries to intimidate Europe. Putin threatened at a press conference on Thursday that his government was already preparing tough retaliatory measures.
Warns of retaliatory measures by Russia against his country: Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.Image: keystone
They would first of all hit Belgium, where the money is located. At least that’s what Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever fears. The Flemish nationalist may dream at night of a secession of the Dutch-speaking part of his country. During the day he temporarily warns of the downfall of Belgium due to Russian acts of revenge.
On Wednesday, De Wever sent EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen a four-page letter in which he once again clearly warned against touching Russian funds.
The risks are great – but doing nothing is completely out of the question
In fact, the Belgian has a point. States enjoy immunity under international law. However, the skimming of Russian central bank funds would be new territory in history. For Belgium it would come with incalculable risks. But also for Europe.
Other countries could lose trust and withdraw their state funds deposited in the EU. It would be like a bank run, simply at the state level. In the worst case scenario, the continent could be pushed into a financial crisis that would cause the euro to crash. These are not “academic” risks, but rather “real risks,” warns De Wever. He therefore demands “iron-hard” guarantees. If there is an escalation, which he fully expects, his country must be able to count on the undivided solidarity of the Europeans.
Are Trump and Putin presenting the EU with a fait accompli?
Of course, the EU Commission, which has to implement the plan for the member states, is also aware of the risks associated with tapping into the central bank’s treasury. But there is one argument that trumps all others: There are no alternatives.
The state coffers in Europe are empty and the more than 100 billion that Ukraine needs by 2027 can no longer be found from national budgets. Taking on new joint debt is not only highly explosive politically. But it is also almost impossible in practice because it requires unanimity and the Putin-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocks everything that helps Ukraine.
So there is no choice but to force a solution and make the Russian central bank reserves usable for Ukraine by the EU summit on December 18th at the latest. It would be best to do it sooner – before Putin and Trump present a deal that presents Europe with a fait accompli and already redistributes Russian state money elsewhere.
On Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized again that progress must now be made in the use of Russian state assets. He sees it as a means “to force Russia to the negotiating table,” said Merz.
So will it work and will Europe be able to find a solution? It must. For almost four years, the EU repeated that it would support Ukraine “as long as it is necessary”. Letting them down now is simply impossible. That’s what everyone says, including Bart De Wever. (aargauerzeitung.ch)