Over 100 European Parliament Members Urge EU Leaders to Seize 200 Billion Euros in Frozen Russian Assets as Ukraine Faces 23 Billion Euro Defense Gap

More than 100 members of the European Parliament, including 122 signatories, sent EU leaders a letter dated September 9 urging renewed action to use roughly €200 billion ($230 billion) in frozen Russian central bank assets to fund Ukraine, according to the Kyiv Independent, which first obtained the letter 1. The letter, organized by Swedish MEP Karin Karlsbro along with Nathalie Loiseau and Petras Auštrevičius and backed by lawmakers from six political groups, cites a €23 billion Ukrainian defense funding shortfall for the coming year 123. It calls on the European Commission to establish a new EU instrument to assume legal custody of the assets, roughly €180 billion of which sit at Belgium-based Euroclear, after Belgian objections over litigation risk, also shared by France, which holds about €19 billion of the frozen funds, blocked a similar proposal in December 13. The letter is addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, Council President António Costa and Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and estimates Russia's war damage at over €600 billion, exceeding the EU's existing €90 billion Ukraine loan 23.