Moscow sues European Union over frozen assets

The Russian central bank said it has filed a lawsuit with the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg challenging the December 2025 decision to freeze its assets in Europe indefinitely. According to the bank, Western countries have frozen Russian state funds worth about $300bn.

Most of the frozen assets are held in Europe, chiefly at the Belgian depository Euroclear.

In December, the Moscow-based central bank filed a separate lawsuit seeking $230bn in damages from Euroclear. The claim was brought in response to the indefinite freeze and proposals to confiscate the assets to finance Ukraine.

In a statement, the bank said the decision to freeze the assets was taken by EU representatives with serious procedural violations, arguing that the measure was not approved unanimously as required under EU law. A source close to the central bank said those alleged violations form the basis of the case.

An EU document dated 12 December excludes the possibility of legal action by Russia in EU courts. The Russian bank argues that the regulation breaches the right of access to justice, the inviolability of property and the principle of sovereign immunity for states and their central banks.

(reuters, max)