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PoliticsUkraine

Why Russia's frozen assets are a 'trump card' for Europe

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Christine Mhundwa interviews Hugo Dixon
December 15, 2025

Hugo Dixon is the principal architect of a plan to use Russia's frozen assets to help finance Ukraine's military campaign. If Europe doesn't use its "trump card," he told DW, the US president will "grab it for himself."

The European Union is scrambling for ways to keep funding flowing to Ukraine as the country approaches the fourth year of Russia's full-scale invasion. The European Commission has put forward a complex scheme to use around €210 billion ($247 billion) of Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU to generate a loan for Ukraine.

But Belgium, concerned about possible retaliation from Russia, remains opposed to the plan.

"Belgium also needs to look at the big picture," British entrepreneur and campaigner Hugo Dixon tells DW. "The real risk to Eurozone assets and Eurozone bond markets is if Europe fails to support Ukraine."

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