Europe's powerful tool against Russia: Seize assets to back Ukraine

If European leaders want to follow through on their statements in support of Ukraine, they must seize the moment by seizing Russia's assets

It is now clear that US President Donald Trump’s administration will betray Ukraine in its fight to resist Russian aggression. Mr Trump himself is either a victim of disinformation, or he is a willing participant in an effort to deceive Americans about the causes and consequences of the war. 

Mr Trump’s lies include claiming that Ukraine is equally to blame for the war; that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t “have the cards” to end the conflict on favourable terms; and that Ukraine could not have defended itself without US help. 

Yet the whole world knows that Russia launched an unprovoked invasion, and we all remember the initial weeks, when Ukrainians valiantly defended an 1,800-mile front line against a supposedly superior army, long before deliveries of Western artillery, armoured vehicles, and air-defence systems arrived. 

The disgraceful scene in the Oval Office on February 28 highlighted Mr Trump’s hostility toward Zelenskyy and fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Is it just that Mr Trump loves authoritarian figures who have fulfilled his own ambitions? Or is it that Mr Putin has kompromat on Mr Trump (as was widely suspected during his first term)? 

Whatever the case, Mr Trump rejects the very idea of the rule of law, because he subordinates it to political interest: The law should be used when it serves the President’s interests, and ignored when it does not. Agreements between countries (even those he signed) can be broken at will. The United States, together with the United Kingdom and Russia, promised to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity 30 years ago, under the Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994. In exchange, Ukraine agreed to give up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, inherited from the Soviet Union. Russia violated the agreement when it invaded and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, and now Ukraine has been betrayed by two of the agreement’s parties. 

Mr Trump’s refusal to honour America’s word is disgraceful. The Ukrainians upheld their end of the bargain, and they expected the US to do the same. These betrayals have deadly implications, and not only for Ukraine. For decades, Europe’s own security has relied on Article 5 of the Nato treaty, according to which an attack on one member is an attack on all. Yet it is now obvious that the US will defend Europe only if doing so serves what Mr Trump believes are his interests. International law and treaty obligations mean nothing to him, just as they mean nothing to Mr Putin. 

Europeans are coming to terms with these harsh realities. The most immediate tasks are to create a self-sufficient defence force and to decide what to do with the $220 billion in Russian sovereign assets (out of the $300-350 billion immobilised in 2022) currently held in European jurisdictions. In June 2024, the G7 agreed to use the interest ($50 billion) from these assets to provide financial aid to Ukraine, and the European Commission made the first disbursement of $3 billion in January 2025. But with the US likely to end its own financial assistance, this half-measure is no longer sufficient. Europe must go further by seizing all the Russian assets under its control. 

We previously argued that these assets should be used to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction, since the damage caused by Russian aggression far exceeds $220 billion. But the money is needed even more urgently now. One cannot rebuild a country that is still under attack and partial occupation. Justice and common sense dictate that these resources go to fund Ukraine’s defence.  Europe can use whatever legal maneuvers it needs; what matters is that Ukraine receives the money immediately, so that it can purchase military equipment and repair the infrastructure that Russia is continually destroying. 

There can be no question of liability. Russia should not be allowed to claim that the assets are legally protected at a time when it is shredding the rule of law and freely confiscating Western assets within its own jurisdiction. Moreover, making the funds immediately available to Ukraine would be in Europe’s own interest. Whatever Ukraine spends on its defence industry will ultimately strengthen Europe’s own defence capacity and stimulate its faltering economy. 

There is no time to waste. Using the funds as collateral for a future International Claims Commission, as has been proposed, would cause unacceptable delays. The tide of authoritarianism is rising, and Europe has become the world’s bulwark against it. European values — and the defence of civil liberties, democracy, and human rights globally — are on the line. 

As French President Emmanuel Macron recently put it, “Europe should rediscover the taste of risk, of ambition, and of power.” If he and other European leaders want to follow through on their rhetorical support of Ukraine following the Oval Office debacle, they must seize the moment, which means seizing Russia’s assets. Ukraine is defending all of Europe. Europe must not hide behind legalistic excuses. 

The authors are, respectively,  assistant professor of economics at the School of Management at Marist College, and professor at Columbia University and a Nobel laureate in economics. ©Project Syndicate, 2025