Brussels Edition

Why Frozen Russian Assets Have Become Critical to Ukraine’s Defense

Zelenskiy tells us in an interview that right now, there is no alternative
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, during a Bloomberg Television interview in Kyiv, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025.Photographer: Olga Ivashchenko/Bloomberg

Welcome to the Brussels Edition. I’m Oliver Crook, chief Europe correspondent for Bloomberg Television, bringing you the latest from the EU. Make sure you’re signed up.


For European leaders listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the importance of finding a way to monetize the €140 billion of frozen Russian assets will be hard to misinterpret.

“I hope, God bless, we will get this decision,” Zelenskiy told me yesterday in a Bloomberg TV interview in Kyiv. “It’s a question of our surviving, that’s why we need it very much. And I count on partners.”