Russians President Vladimir Putin has warned the European Union that any attempt to access Russia’s sovereign frozen funds would backfire and damage the global financial system. During an end-of-year live Q&A session and press conference on Friday in Moscow, he reiterated that such actions constitute theft and risk undermining the foundations of modern finance.
“It would be robbery… Besides reputational losses, there could be direct losses affecting the foundations of the modern financial world order,” Putin stated. “And most importantly: whatever they steal and however they do it, they will have to pay it back someday.”
The EU has frozen approximately $300 billion in Russian central bank assets since 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Most of these funds are held at Euroclear, a Belgium-based depository. Despite recent legislation by the EU that would replace the current freeze with a long-term measure to keep the assets blocked indefinitely, EU leaders recently failed to approve a loan plan for Kiev. Instead, they opted to raise common debt temporarily while agreeing to revisit the scheme once technical issues are resolved.
Putin warned that using Russian assets as collateral for loans to Kiev would increase financial burdens on EU countries already grappling with high debts. He cited France’s national debt at 120% of GDP and a budget deficit of 6% as examples of how additional strain could be damaging. “What does issuing a loan actually mean? It affects the budget of every country involved because it increases public debt, even when loans are backed by collateral,” he added.
Russia has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in Moscow over damages linked to its alleged “inability to manage” the frozen funds. The Bank of Russia announced Thursday that it would expand the legal action to include European banks holding the assets. The first hearing is scheduled for January 16, with Russian media reporting claims totaling nearly $230 billion (18.2 trillion rubles). While the EU dismissed the lawsuit as “speculative,” analysts warn its spread could harm the bloc’s financial institutions.
