Leaders of key European countries support the seizure of Moscowʼs frozen assets worth more than €200 billion while working on a ceasefire plan in Ukraine.
This is reported by the Financial Times (FT).
Paris and Berlin, which have long opposed the full confiscation of assets held in the EU, are now discussing ways to use them with the UK and other countries.
French officials have proposed seizing assets if Moscow breaches a future ceasefire in Ukraine, sources told the FT. The move could force Russia to provide guarantees to Kyiv, the newspaper said.
Following Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the G7 countries froze around €300 billion in assets of the Russian Central Bank. Of this, around €190 billion is held at the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear, with smaller amounts held in France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and the United States.
The income from these assets is now being used to repay $50 billion in loans provided to Kyiv by its G7 allies, while the underlying assets remain untouched.
Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states have long pushed for the seizure of Russian assets. However, Berlin, Paris and Brussels have previously opposed it, fearing that seizing state assets would set a precedent in international law. The European Central Bank is concerned that it would threaten the euroʼs status as a safe haven for foreign exchange reserves.
The FT writes that the French proposal has been welcomed in Europe, but it is still far from being agreed. Support for the initiative has strengthened after threats from the US administration of President Donald Trump to end military support for Ukraine.
- It was previously reported that Russia may agree to give up $300 billion in frozen assets in Europe for the reconstruction of Ukraine in order to reach an agreement with it. However, Moscow will demand that the money also be used to rebuild the territories occupied by Russians.
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