The case for putting$300 billion in frozen Russian state assets to work.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western governments have frozen approximately $300 billion in Russian central bank reserves. Under customary international law, Russia bears a legal obligation to compensate Ukraine for the destruction it has caused — yet Russia has never voluntarily paid reparations in its history of illegal aggression.

The case for redirecting these assets is not merely moral. It is grounded in decades of legal precedent, including post-WWII reparations frameworks and more recent uses of frozen assets in cases like Iraq. The standard objections — sovereign immunity, financial stability risk, risk of retaliation — do not withstand serious scrutiny.

In December 2025, the EU enacted legislation indefinitely immobilizing Russian state assets until Russia ends its war and pays reparations, and agreed to a €90 billion loan for Ukraine through 2027. No decision has been made on the use of the principal of the frozen assets. Current windfall profits mechanisms generate only c. €3 billion annually — insufficient to meet Ukraine's needs or provide meaningful accountability. The €90 billion loan will have been depleted by 2027, after which Ukraine will again face critical funding shortfalls without a sustainable solution.