Russia sues EU over frozen assets worth $300 billion
Russia's central bank filed a claim with the General Court of the European Union (based in Luxembourg) after the bloc froze roughly €200-210 billion of its assets, most of which are held at Belgium's Euroclear, while Russia says about $300 billion in sovereign funds were frozen by Western countries.
The assets were first frozen at the start of the 2022 invasion; the EU tightened the legal basis for holding them in 2025.
Case could impact international sanctions
Russia says the EU broke its own rules by not getting unanimous approval for the freeze and claims its property rights were violated.
The case could impact how international sanctions work and whether frozen Russian funds ever get released—especially since the EU now only needs a qualified majority vote to keep assets locked up.
Plus, Russia is also suing Euroclear separately for about $230 billion in damages, so this legal fight could have global ripple effects.