EU countries discuss coordinated termination of 16 investment treaties with Russia
EU member states are considering a coordinated move to terminate 16 bilateral investment treaties with Russia. The agreements were signed mainly at the end of the Cold War and in the 1990s to protect mutual investment. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they became a potential tool for Russian companies and the state in arbitration disputes with European countries — including over sanctions and frozen assets.
Of the EU’s 27 members, 17 still have treaties with Moscow in force. Belgium and Luxembourg share a single agreement, so there are 16 treaties in total. Lithuania is the only EU country so far to have terminated its treaty with Russia, in October 2025. Ukraine ended its equivalent agreement in January 2025.
The European Commission takes the view that keeping these treaties in place is no longer consistent with the EU’s overall investment policy after Russia’s aggression. The Union itself is not a party to bilateral accords: denunciation is a decision for national governments. Brussels is prepared to coordinate the process so that no single country becomes an isolated target for retaliatory claims.