The US has proposed unfreezing some of Russiaʼs assets and transferring them under Washingtonʼs control in order to resume negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
This is reported by the Financial Times (FT), citing four sources familiar with the negotiations.
According to them, such an idea was discussed during a meeting in Miami last week by representatives of the US, Ukraine, France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO.
Donald Trumpʼs special envoy Steve Witkoff and the presidentʼs son-in-law Jared Kushner have proposed several ways to unfreeze the assets. One of them is to transfer the funds to a special financial structure under US supervision.
The Europeans rejected the offer. They refused to give up control of the assets or return any part of them to Moscow. According to one of the FT’s interlocutors, the Europeans made it clear that they would not allow this.
A US official confirmed that the parties have discussed Russian assets as part of a comprehensive peace agreement. Exactly how they might be unfrozen and what they would be spent on has not yet been decided.
Earlier, The New York Times, citing sources, wrote that in late September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the United States had already proposed unfreezing Russian assets as one of three "economic incentives" for a ceasefire with Ukraine in the energy or maritime sectors.
The publication noted that the US was offering these funds as an "advance incentive" for a partial ceasefire, and not as a reward after its implementation.
- After Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine, allies froze about €260 billion in Russian state assets, most of them in the EU. The EU countries are using the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Ukraine.
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