An estimated 350bn in Russian government assets have been frozen in Western accounts since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. These are not idle funds. In 2023, Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear, whose settling and clearance role mean that it holds 197 billion euros ( 214bn) in such assets, reported that they produced at least 3 billion euros ( 3.26bn) from interest. Given that the sanctions on the Kremlin remain firmly in place and Putin has shown no willingness to negotiate on his demand to annex one-quarter of Ukraine's territory or to cease his attacks, how these assets can be harnessed to push for an end to the war or help Ukraine resist has become a key question for Kyiv's Western allies. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron publicly opened the doors to the idea last December by stating: "Instead of just freezing that money, let's take that money, [and] spend it on rebuilding Ukraine."

Ukraine will forge ahead in the battle against Russia's invasion, Kyiv's top diplomat has pledged as he seeks to rally Western support. Ukraine will not "back down" in fighting against the Russian invasion, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a summit of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, even as its military locked into a bloody stalemate with enemy forces amid signs that the provision of weapons and funding is slowing and that the war in Gaza is limiting global attention. "We have to continue, we have to keep fighting. Ukraine is not going to back down," Kuleba said. "The issue here is not just Ukraine's security, it is the security and safety of the entire Euro-Atlantic space."