“The Russian Transfer” answers Belgium’s concerns over Kremlin’s assets as Brussels holds talks with EU capitals

August 20, 2026

“The Russian Transfer” is the answer to Belgium’s insistence that it is protected from risk if

Russian sovereign assets in the European Union are used to help Ukraine. Under this

proposal, the frozen Russian accounts in Belgium and elsewhere would be transferred to

the EU itself as custodian. This would take Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are

sitting, out of the line of fire and ensure that any risks are shared by the EU as a whole.

Belgium confirmed this week that it is in discussion with European capitals on the potential

use of the €210 billion of frozen Russian assets in the EU to help Ukraine – and has no

objection in principle to using these funds. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot also made clear

that any risks must not fall entirely and exclusively on Belgium.

“It is great that Belgium has no objection in principle to using the Russian assets to help

Ukraine. It is also right to insist that it should not bear the risks associated with using these

assets. They must be borne by the EU as a whole,” said Hugo Dixon, co-founder of The

Russian Transfer. “The solution is to transfer the Kremlin’s frozen sovereign accounts from

Belgium and other member states to the EU itself. Russia could then no longer intimidate

Belgium and any risk would be on the EU’s broad shoulders.”

This proposal is different from the Reparations Loan the European Commission put

forward last year. The plan then was to borrow cash associated with the assets from

Belgium’s Euroclear, where €185 billion of Russian sovereign assets are sitting, while

leaving it with its liability to Russia.

The Russian Transfer involves moving the entire account out of Euroclear – the liabilities as

well as the assets. What is more, the EU would provide an indemnity to cover any residual

risk Belgium and Euroclear face. All other Russian frozen sovereign accounts in the EU

would also be transferred to the new custodian, so Belgium would not be singled out for

special treatment.

This would not be confiscation as the Central Bank of Russia would remain the owner of

the accounts after the transfer of custody. There is a precedent for transferring custody of

sovereign accounts: after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi sovereign assets outside

Iraq were moved to a new account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Notes to editors:

1. Under the Russian Transfer proposal, the EU itself would become custodian of the

frozen Russian accounts, taking on the liabilities to Russia as well as the €210 billion

assets. The EU would then have greater flexibility to use the assets to help Ukraine,

acting always in accordance with international and EU law.

2. The Russian Transfer has published a draft regulation spelling out in legal terms the

mechanism for moving the Russian accounts.

3. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot was speaking in Kyiv on August 18 at a briefing

with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. The video is here. Asked about the

Russian assets, he said (24 minute mark):

“We have already been in contact with several other European capitals, and we will

continue these discussions. The risks we spoke about remain very real. We have no

objection in principle to using these funds, but the relevant experts need to find a legally

sound path that limits this risk so that it does not fall entirely and exclusively on Belgium

— otherwise Belgium will maintain this position. Let's see what the coming months

bring. But one should not think that Belgium is opposed in principle to using these

frozen assets, or that it refuses to support Ukraine.”

4. The Russian Transfer proposal is designed to meet the concerns that Belgium had with

the European Commission’s 2025 proposal for a Reparations Loan. Belgian Prime

Minister Bart De Wever said after the October 2025 European Council that he wanted to

get rid of the Russian account. The video is here. His exact comments were:

“If there is somebody who wants to take the entire Euroclear balance…. and will sign for

all the risks, he can have it. That would be the happiest day – maybe not the happiest

day of my career, but it would be a happy day to see that money leave Belgium. I want to

get rid of it.”

The Russian Transfer takes the entire Euroclear balance, exactly as De Wever asked.

5. The Russian Transfer was founded by Hugo Dixon, Lee Buchheit and Daleep Singh. In a

statement this month, senior politicians Germany’s Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and

France’s Nathalie Loiseau endorsed the proposal.

For more information, see TheRussianTransfer.com.

Contact: info@therussiantransfer.com