UK Eyes Plan to Fund Ukraine Using £25 Billion in Frozen Russian Assets

The UK government is exploring plans to finance loans for Ukraine using billions of pounds in Russian state assets frozen in Britain, The Gaze reports, citing Politico.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined the idea during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Copenhagen on Saturday. The proposal is designed to complement a similar initiative under discussion in Brussels.

Reeves did not disclose operational details but stressed that the mechanism would comply with international law and avoid the outright confiscation of Russian funds.

While the bulk of Moscow’s frozen sovereign assets, around €185 billion, remains held by Euroclear in Belgium, an additional £25 billion is blocked in the UK. 

London’s plan would channel these resources into a so-called “reparations loan” scheme, which the Treasury says would “work in unison” with the EU’s proposal.

Under the European Commission’s blueprint, the bloc would raise up to €172 billion for Kyiv by converting profits linked to frozen Russian assets into zero-interest bonds. The loans would only need to be repaid once Russia pays war reparations, a scenario seen as unlikely in the near term.

The UK Treasury added that its approach could unlock lending capacity equal to the full value of Russian assets frozen in Britain.

In parallel, U.S. lawmakers are also moving forward: a bipartisan group of senators has proposed amendments to the REPO Act on Ukraine’s recovery that would repurpose Russian assets frozen in the United States and transfer them to Kyiv every 90 days.

As The Gaze reported earlier, Ukraine could gain access to as much as $300 billion in funding under a new European-backed plan that would channel frozen Russian assets into a reparations-linked loan.