Today there will be a meeting in Brussels where the European Union (EU) will decide whether to steal Russia's $210 Billion Sovereign Wealth Funds. If the EU does that, companies around the world are expected to withdraw funds from Europe because they can no longer trust that government to act within the law.
When Russia launched its Special Military Operation inside Ukraine, European governments clutched their pearls and threw a hissy fit. Then they decided that they had some right to "freeze" Russia's Sovereign Wealth Funds. This is a problem: Russia did not violate any European Law and as such, its funds cannot be frozen or seized.
Those little factual details didn't matter to the shrieking Europeans; they froze Russia's money anyway.
This sent a shot-across-the-bow of every entity that does business in or with Europe. If the EU can simply decide that they have some right to grab someone's money despite no law having been violated, then no one is safe.
So the EU decided initially they would "pledge" the Dividends from Russia's money as collateral for loans to Ukraine. The EU had no legal authority to do THAT either. It's Russia's money, not Europe's. Europe has no legal standing to do any of this -- but they went ahead and did it anyway.
As the fighting between Russia and Ukraine continued, Europe became more shrill - like a woman whose pantyhose are in a twist. Even though Europe had been supporting Ukraine financially and militarily, Russia was still winning.
Here we are, nearly four years into the conflict, and Ukraine is on its back foot both militarily and financially. Unless there is some massive injection of funds to Ukraine, the country will be completely Bankrupt and out of cash by Quarter 2 of next year.
So Europe decided that instead of merely illegally "freezing" Russia's money, and instead of merely illegally "pledging" dividends from that money as collateral for loans to Ukraine, now the EU wants to actually TAKE Russia's money and use it for Ukraine!
A number of countries within the EU have pointed out that any such attempt would require unanimous consent of ALL countries in the EU - and several countries made know they absolutely REFUSE to engage in this theft.
So the EU changed the rules so that Unanimous Consent is suddenly no longer required!
Today, the EU will meet to discuss this matter and the outcome will have massive effects.
Seeing this coming, Russia filed a lawsuit in Russian Court, demanding their money be returned. That case is now pending in Moscow.
When Russia wins - and they will win because the EU has no legal right to do what it is doing - the Court would allow Russia to seize European money which is now retaliatory-frozen inside Russia. But it is not European GOVERNMENT money, it is European Company's money.
Russia may confiscate $127 billion in Western assets in response to the use of its frozen assets to aid Ukraine, writes the Financial Times.
This threat has alarmed countries such as Belgium, Italy, and Austria, and is being considered at the EU level, sources say.
According to the Kiev School of Economics, the Kremlin has already confiscated or frozen the assets of at least 32 Western companies due to previous disputes, resulting in losses of at least $57 billion.
Russia may confiscate local subsidiaries of European companies in accordance with a decree signed by Putin in September, which introduces an accelerated nationalization procedure. The Kremlin justified this decision as a way to quickly respond to "hostile actions" such as the confiscation of EU assets.
Belgian officials believe that Euroclear will be the first victim of Russia's potential retaliatory measures, as its clients' assets worth about €17 billion are still blocked there and are at risk.
The publication writes that 2,315 Western companies are still actively operating in Russia. These include the Russian branches of banks such as Austria's Raiffeisen and Italy's UniCredit, which made significant profits during the war and cannot withdraw them due to a ban on dividend payments.
According to the Kyiv School of Economics, foreign companies earned $19.5 billion in profits in Russia last year.
The confiscation of Russian assets could affect Western investors who owned shares in Russian companies traded on the stock exchange before the invasion, as well as Western companies with stakes in Russian corporations or operating in the country.
Also at the beginning of the war, Russia banned Western investors from selling their Russian securities and withdrawing the proceeds. Dividends and coupons are held in so-called Type C accounts under Russian control. They can be confiscated.
BP's dividends from its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, according to a former employee of the Central Bank of Russia, Alexandra Prokopenko, are likely to be about 340 billion rubles, and according to a court decision in 2024, JPMorgan had 243 billion rubles in Russian assets "mainly" in Type C accounts.
"This is one of Moscow's trump cards. If Europe takes any action against Russia's reserves, Russia can simply transfer the funds from Type C accounts to the budget," said Prokopenko. "This gives them a source of direct income when they are experiencing a deficit and overspending on defense."
This step also worries European countries and increases their doubts about the feasibility of issuing a reparation loan secured by frozen Russian assets.
Last week, the Italian government supported the EU's decision to indefinitely freeze Russian assets, but also expressed concern about the potential risks of using them to finance Ukraine.
Italian parliamentarian Claudio Borghi from the ruling coalition party "Lega" warned of the consequences if the EU implements its plans.
"How can you think that the actual theft of another country's money will not lead to further disaster?" said Borghi to FT. "The first consequence will be that Russia will feel entitled to confiscate all foreign assets."
Austria is also concerned that Moscow may attempt to nationalize Raiffeisen's subsidiary, Austria's largest bank, which earned $2.9 billion in revenue in Russia last year.
"This is uncharted legal territory, and, honestly, there is a growing lack of understanding of why the Commission simply does not conduct more negotiations with member states and, at least, make them feel that their concerns are being taken seriously," said an Austrian official.
Belgium is sitting on $185 billion of those Russian assets and is refusing to approve the plan to grab Russia's money unless other EU states guarantee to cover Belgium if Russia wins a lawsuit. Not just any lawsuit - Russia filed a $230 billion damages claim this week. In a Moscow court. Where Russia is both plaintiff and judge.
Belgium wants an open-ended financial guarantee. Other EU states want Belgium to stop paralyzing the bloc over a hypothetical loss in what they see as a kangaroo court.
Meanwhile, Ukraine runs out of money by Q2 2026 without this funding.
Here’s the bind: Hungary can veto backup plans. Individual national loans would blow holes in already strained budgets. That makes the frozen-assets mechanism the only viable option. But Belgium is effectively holding the entire strategy hostage over legal liability.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this morning "If the EU takes the money, they will be marching straight into war." Here is video:
Orban: Seizing Russian assets and handing them to Ukraine would mean the EU is “marching into the war.” pic.twitter.com/yPJkA2Md6Z
— Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) December 18, 2025
Trump called Europe weak. Europe’s response so far has been to spend days debating whether to use money already seized from the man who invaded their neighbor.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk put it bluntly: “Money today or blood tomorrow.” Europe is choosing the lawyer meeting.
But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk may have inadvertently stumbled into a not-so-good reality: Using his own words, "Money today OR Blood tomorrow" may actually be BOTH! If Europe steals Russia's money, Russia may bloody Europe with military action - or perhaps intelligence agency assassination of the EU officials who do this!
When you try to steal other people's money, things get ugly fast. It seems Europe is about to find that out.
If they take Russia's money, no rational business will keep accounts open in Europe. After all, who in their right mind would leave their money in a place where lowly, sniveling, public servant parasites like those who run the EU, can grab it on a whim?
If the EU takes Russia's money, there is likely to be a tidal wave of cash outflow from European Banks. An outflow so large, some of those banks might not survive.
Could trigger Great Financial Crisis 2.0 in Europe . . . then in America . . . . than everywhere else. All because European government officials, with Intellects akin to that of a cock roach, clutched their pearls and threw a hissy fit over something that didn't even involve Europe in the first place. It's sort of the behavior one might expect from a spoiled brat child.
Maybe this should be the motto for the European Union: "Spoiled Brat Children in Adult bodies throwing temper tantrums and grabbing other people's money."
UPDATE 8:09 AM EST --
Speaking of spoiled brats, here is European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asserting she will not allow any EU members to leave today unless and until the funding of Ukraine for the next two years is agreed to:
"We will not leave the European Council today without a decision on the financing of Ukraine for the next two years." - Ursula von der Leyen. pic.twitter.com/NANYaAnk7d
— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) December 18, 2025
Meanwhile in Moscow, President Putin called these European twits "Piglets."
Putin reportedly called European leaders little pigs.. pic.twitter.com/997qzDh3AV
— Global Report (@Globalrepport) December 18, 2025
This situation is clearly falling apart . . . fast.
