European Allies Shift to Radical Use of Frozen Russian Central Bank Assets After United States Halts Funding for Ukraine

Exam-focused facts from the 12 December 2025 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Western nations agonized for years over how they might use Russian central bank assets deposited abroad to support Ukraine’s military and rebuild its shattered economy.
Many European officials were skeptical, concerned that doing so could amount to illegal expropriation.
Now that President Donald Trump has cut US funding for the government in Kyiv, Ukraine’s European allies have put aside those reservations and become more radical in their approach.