Overview
- Hungary’s Viktor Orbán said the European Commission removed confiscation of Russian reserves from this week’s EU summit agenda and is now floating a joint EU credit for Kyiv.
- Belgium, Hungary, Euroclear and the European Central Bank have rejected the plan to leverage Russian sovereign assets, with Euroclear’s chief warning of court action; roughly €180 billion is held at Euroclear.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rated the chances of an EU decision at 50/50 as European experts cautioned that using the assets risks legal defeat and financial system damage.
- U.S. envoys plan to meet a Russian delegation in Miami on December 20–21 to present updated settlement proposals following Berlin talks where Italy’s Giorgia Meloni was portrayed by the Financial Times as the key European interlocutor.
- Moscow has condemned the EU asset push and warned of consequences, while Russian agencies publicized treason cases and asserted that Ukrainian military morale has deteriorated amid corruption scandals.