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The Russian authorities have prepared countermeasures in case Russia's assets frozen in the West are seized. This was announced by Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko, TASS reports. "Proposals have been drawn up in response to the West's potential confiscation of Russian assets and have been presented to the country's leadership," Chuychenko said. The planned seizure of Russian assets by unfriendly states, he said, "is a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international law, entailing an obligation on such states and other persons to compensate the damage caused by violating the Russian Federation's property rights." The minister did not provide details of the potential retaliatory plan. A day later, on 27 November, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the matter. "The government is working on my instructions to prepare a package of countermeasures in case this [seizure of assets] goes ahead," the president said during his trip to Kyrgyzstan. The total Russian Central Bank assets frozen in the West are estimated at €300 billion. Of this, about $5 billion is in the United States, and the bulk in the Belgian depository Euroclear. The EU is currently using an instrument that allows it to transfer income from the Russian assets to Ukraine, while the assets themselves remain frozen. European authorities are discussing the possibility of using the Russian reserves to make a "reparations loan". However, EU political advisers are currently discussing a "plan B" to help Ukraine if the reparations loan initiative is not agreed upon and ready for signing at the European leaders' summit on 18 December. 

According to Politico, one option under discussion is a "bridge" loan, which could be financed through joint debt. This would allow Ukraine to receive assistance in the first few months of 2026 and allow more time to discuss a "reparations loan," the publication's sources said.

On 27 November, the European Parliament published a study that identified the optimal way to use the Russian sovereign assets, given the balance of feasibilities and legal risks. According to the study, this would include:

• extending the restrictive measures involving the "freezing" of Russian reserves by a qualified majority (15 of the 27 EU countries, representing at least 65% of the bloc's population); currently, such an extension must be approved every six months by unanimous decision of all the EU countries;
• creating a pan-European instrument (a "reparations loan") in accordance with Article 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (on assistance to third countries), under which the EU will arrange an interest-free loan from Euroclear using Russia's frozen funds;
• pursuant to Article 215 of the same Treaty (on sanctions against third countries), having Euroclear invest in the special instrument without following the standard rules as to how central bank assets are handled by central depositories;
• under the EU instrument, using the transferred assets to grant Ukraine a loan, which it will only have to repay once it receives "reparations" from Russia;
• when and if sanctions against Russia are lifted and reparations are paid, Euroclear will have a legal financial claim in the amount of Russian assets transferred to the instrument; this will guarantee that Euroclear will be able to fulfil its obligation to return the reserves to Russia.  

Moscow considers any use of both the blocked assets themselves and the interest income from them to be unlawful. Russia has repeatedly stated its readiness to respond to possible confiscation. Last week, the State Duma issued a call to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin for countermeasures to be prepared in case the European Union decides to use the Bank of Russia's frozen assets.