The European Union seized $105 billion in Russian assets and transferred them to Ukraine, thinking it was a masterstroke that would cripple Russia and demonstrate Western resolve. Instead, Russia responded with a three-wave retaliation so devastating that European governments are now quietly panicking: they nationalized $120 billion in European corporate assets, forced all energy sales into rubles/yuan (rejecting euros entirely), and created a $150 billion BRICS+ Reserve Fund that provides seizure-proof custody for countries terrified of Western financial weaponization. The result: massive capital flight from European assets, euro depreciation, rising borrowing costs for EU governments, and the accelerated collapse of the euro’s reserve currency credibility. China emerged as the massive winner, offering financial alternatives that dozens of countries are now rushing to adopt, while European companies lost everything they built in Russia over decades. This wasn’t strategic brilliance—this was Europe destroying its own financial credibility for a short-term political win, and Russia just taught them a lesson in economic warfare they’ll never forget.
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