Frozen Russian assets should fund reparations for people of Ukraine, says EU

The European Commission has proposed that funds linked to frozen Russian assets in the European Union be used to establish a fund that will pay Ukrainians reparations for damage caused by Russia's aggression.

Source: Michael McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, in a comment to European Pravda in Brussels on 9 December

Details: McGrath said that the European Commission is proposing to use Russia's immobilised assets to pay reparations to Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens.

Quote: "In the proposal that the European Commission has made under the architecture of this reparations loan arrangement, which is one of two proposals that the Commission has made and which will be considered by the European Council next week, there is provision within that for the funding that is associated with the Russian immobilised assets being used for contributing to this fund that will eventually pay reparations to the people of Ukraine."

More details: McGrath stressed that the EU must strongly support people who have suffered from Russian aggression in Ukraine, particularly "those who have been bereaved, women who have been raped, families who have had children abducted from them and taken to Russia" and others.

Quotes: "We cannot just wipe the slate clean of these issues. There must be justice. There must be accountability. We will do our job to put the architecture in place through the special tribunal, through the work of the Claims Commission."

More details: McGrath also said that there is a possibility that under the proposed reparations loan financing arrangement, funds could be channelled into the eventual fund from which people who have suffered from Russia's aggression in Ukraine would receive reparations.

Background:

• It was reported earlier that the European Union will join in establishing the International Claims Commission for Ukraine on 16 December. The Commission is being set up as part of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
• The Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine was approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 22 October.
• The agreement on the Register of Damage for Ukraine (RD4U) was adopted in May 2023 at a Council of Europe summit in Iceland.
• In October 2025, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said it welcomed the establishment of an international commission to examine Ukraine's claims against Russia.

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