EU's Trump Card: Will the Confiscation of $300 Billion in Frozen Russian Assets End the War in Ukraine?
Given that most of the frozen Russian assets are kept in Europe, this is a trump card that Europeans can use in possible negotiations to resolve the situation in Ukraine, Bloomberg writes.
According to the agency, a number of European countries insisted on confiscating assets when Joe Biden was US president, and this proposal was renewed by some of Ukraine's allies after Donald Trump took office.
According to European officials familiar with the matter, Ukrainian officials have also asked the Trump administration to allow them to use $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to buy American-made weapons, a proposal that has also been made directly to Trump, one source told Bloomberg, stressing that there is no indication the president supports the idea.
Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, where most of the assets are held in Euroclear, remain very concerned about the idea of confiscation, fearing its impact on financial stability, as well as legal and other risks. The European Central Bank has warned that the seizure of Russian assets could destabilise the euro system.
As you know, the assets of the Russian central bank were frozen as part of the measures taken by the G-7 and the European Union after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They are held mainly at the Euroclear settlement house in Europe. So far, the G-7 has used only the profits generated from sanctioned assets to provide $50 billion in loans to Ukraine.
As The Gaze previously reported, participants in the Davos Economic Forum called on the West to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.