It is up to Russia to pay, and up to Europe to compel it to do so.
- Collectif Pour l'Ukraine, pour leur liberté et la nôtre !
- 22 hours ago
- 5 min read
Opinion piece published in Le Monde on 9 December 2025, under the title « C’est à la Russie de payer, et l’Europe doit l’y contraindre »
The Kremlin's pseudo ‘peace plan’ — presented by Donald Trump in an American guise — demands nothing less than Ukraine’s surrender, which would then open Europe’s doors to the Russian army. Fortunately, most European states have responded to their transatlantic ally's betrayal: now more than ever, we Europeans must show our solidarity and offer support to a people who, for nearly four years, have been heroically resisting despite systematic bombing targeting civilians.
But this solidarity comes at a cost, which obviously cannot be borne solely by European taxpayers. It is therefore up to Russia to pay, and up to Europe to compel it to do so.
European banks hold more than €200 billion in frozen Russian public assets, most of which are held by Euroclear in Belgium. The European Commission's proposal does not entail confiscating these assets, but rather using them as collateral for a €140 billion loan to Ukraine on behalf of the Union. Ukraine would be asked to repay the loan once Russia has ended its war of aggression and agreed to compensate for the damage caused. At the end of 2024, the World Bank estimated the amount of these reparations at more than €500 billion, or more than three times the amount of the loan. The loan would therefore be considered an advance.
Irrespective of current discourse, this approach is entirely lawful. It is based on customary international law, codified in 2001 by the UN under the title ‘State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts’, which allows aggrieved states to take proportionate countermeasures to stop the aggression and repair the damage. International case law confirms this lawfulness, provided that the conditions of proportionality, temporality and reversibility are met.
With most of Russia's sovereign wealth funds held in Europe located in Belgium, it is understandable that Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is demanding guarantees from his European partners (for these 140 billion euros represent more than 20% of Belgium's GDP).
Three factors are driving Belgium's concern:
The fear that foreign investors will turn away from Euroclear;
The uncertain prospects of a hypothetical lifting of sanctions against Russia, which would allow Moscow to demand the immediate repayment of its assets; and
The possibility of reprisals against Belgian assets held by Russia.
However, these concerns can easily be dispelled. With regard to reputational risk and fears that non European investors will pull out, these stem from a misunderstanding of international law: only sovereign wealth funds belonging to a state recognised by the UN General Assembly as explicitly guilty of waging a war of aggression can be threatened. As for Euroclear's own financial health, the institution manages €42.5 trillion in assets. The €140 billion loan represents only 0.3% of this total. From an ethical point of view, the recent statements by Valérie Urbain, CEO of Euroclear, against the proposed loan are hardly tenable: how can the commercial interests of a private company be placed above the survival of an aggressed state and the collective security of Europe?
As for a hypothetical legal action by Moscow, the likelihood of this happening is extremely low. No international court has jurisdiction to hear this case without the parties' consent, and Russia itself never attempted to challenge the initial freezing of its assets in 2022 before the International Court of Justice, knowing that its claim would be unsuccessful. Furthermore, if Russia were to initiate proceedings, it would ipso facto waive its jurisdictional immunity, which would open the way for legal action against it.
Finally, Russian reprisals are not a matter of conjecture, but already a reality. Moscow has already frozen €17 billion in Western assets deposited in Russia. The loan would hardly make the situation worse.
It is therefore imperative that all European partners support Belgium's request to mutualise hypothetical risks at European level. In the face of Russian aggression, Belgium cannot be left alone on the front line and the EU must demonstrate its unity. The EU is not alone in this. Norway, which has benefited from an estimated €200 billion windfall from gas since the invasion and is not a member of the EU, is considering contributing to the loan guarantee. The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia could also be called upon.
Most importantly, the cost of this collective guarantee must be weighed against the cost of inaction. If Ukraine collapses due to lack of resources, Europe will have to bear much higher costs: the spread of conflict and the risk of war on European soil, massive refugee flows, lasting geopolitical destabilisation, and a disastrous signal sent to all potential aggressors. It is precisely for such moments that the European Union was created. The motto ‘United in diversity’ only makes sense if Member States show solidarity in the face of adversity. Europe has already proven its ability to overcome its reservations and cross its own red lines on the Ukrainian issue. It must do so once again. The loan backed by Russian assets is the most effective, least costly and fairest way to support Ukraine's defence and economy, without placing a burden on European taxpayers who are already under considerable strain in other respects.
Dropping this project in the face of Russian threats would be a major strategic victory for Putin. It would show that blackmail works, that Europe can be divided, and that the aggressor can count on our timidity. Conversely, implementing this loan would send three decisive messages: aggression comes at a high cost to Russia, Europe is united, and Ukraine will hold out.
Opinion piece by
Léa Balage El Mariky, Member of Parliament for Paris
Julien Bayou, lawyer, former Member of Parliament
André Klarsfeld, Secretary of the association For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
Constance Le Grip, Member of Parliament for Hauts-de-Seine, Vice-Chair of the France-Ukraine Friendship Group in the National Assembly
Nathalie Loiseau, Member of the European Parliament
Laurent Mazaury, Member of Parliament for Yvelines, Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Nadia Sollogoub, Senator for Nièvre, Chair of the France-Russia Friendship Group in the Senate
Nicolas Tenzer, specialist in international and security issues, author of Notre Guerre : le crime et l'oubli [Our War: crime and oblivion]
Boris Vallaud, Member of Parliament for Landes, Chair of the Socialist and Related Parties Group in the National Assembly
Olivier Védrine, political scientist, administrator of the Jean Monnet Association
Parliamentary signatories
1. Anna Pic, Member of Parliament for Manche
2. Marie Récalde, Member of Parliament for Gironde
3. Pierre Pribetich, Member of Parliament for Côte d'Or
4. Thierry Sother, Member of Parliament for Bas-Rhin
5. Isabelle Santiago, Member of Parliament for Val-de-Marne
6. Belkhir Belhaddad, Member of Parliament for Moselle
7. Karim Benbrahim, Member of Parliament for Loire-Atlantique
8. Valérie Rossi, Member of Parliament for the Hautes-Alpes
Belgian signatories
Francis Biesmans - Economist-Statistician, Emeritus Professor at the University of Lorraine
Samuel Cogolati, Doctor of International Law and former co-chair of Ecolo (Belgium).
Paul de Grauwe, Professor, John Paulson Chair in European Political Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science
Pierre Klein, Professor, Centre for International Law, ULB.
André Lange, former Senior Lecturer at the University of Liège and ULB, former Head of Department at an international organisation.
Gérard Roland, Formerly E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley and the Free University of Brussels
First signatories
Gilles Chevalier, Comptroller General of the Armed Forces (2S)
Aurélien Duchêne, Consultant in Geopolitics, Defence and Risk Management
Michel Duclos, Former Ambassador
Arthur Kenigsberg, Founding President of Euro Créative
David di Nota, Writer
Jean-Yves Pranchère, professor of political philosophy at the Free University of Brussels
Sylvie Rollet, professor emeritus, president of For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
Othar Zourabichvili, president of the Association Géorgienne en France (Georgian Association in France)
Our #MakeRussiaPay petition on change.org, launched on 27 November, has already reached over 25,000 signatures.
Please feel free to sign it and receive our regular updates on the £140 billion reparations loan.
