EU to gamble with Russia's frozen assets
Officials reportedly view the move as a way to generate higher returns without directly tapping into the sovereign funds themselves, which would be in breach of international law.
The proposal is part of a broader EU initiative to use profits from immobilized Russian assets – primarily Western government bonds held by the Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear – to support Ukraine's war effort. Moscow has labeled the seizure of its assets as 'theft.'
Western nations froze an estimated $300 billion in Russian sovereign funds following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022. Of that amount, more than $200 billion is held by Euroclear. The funds have generated billions in interest, with €1.55 billion ($1.78 billion) transferred to Kiev last July to back a $50 billion G7 loan.Under the new plan, the assets would be placed into an EU-managed investment fund that could pursue higher-yield strategies, officials told Politico on Thursday. The goal is to increase returns without resorting to outright confiscation – a step opposed by countries such as Germany and Italy due to the potential legal and financial consequences.
The EU's $21 billion contribution to the G7 loan is expected to be fully disbursed by the end of this year. With future US aid uncertain and the bloc's own budget under pressure, officials are exploring alternative ways to keep Ukraine's economy afloat beyond 2025, Politico reported.
EU policymakers hope the plan will allow them to extract more revenue from the assets without violating international legal norms. The International Monetary Fund has warned that outright seizure could damage global trust in Western financial institutions.
Talks among member states over confiscation have dragged on for more than three years without resolution.
Brussels also reportedly sees the new investment structure as a safeguard in case Hungary vetoes the renewal of sanctions – a move that could result in the assets being returned to Russia. EU sanctions must be unanimously extended every six months, and Budapest has repeatedly threatened to block them, citing national interests.
Critics caution that riskier investments could result in losses ultimately borne by EU taxpayers, the outlet noted.Russia has condemned the asset freeze and has threatened countermeasures, including legal action.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
Russia ‘has won the war'
Russia has already won the Ukraine conflict and it is now up to the West to acknowledge this, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. Orban made the remarks on Tuesday, shortly after he snubbed the latest joint EU statement in support of Ukraine issued ahead of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday in Alaska. Speaking to the 'Patriot' YouTube channel, the Hungarian leader said he partly opposed the statement as it only made the EU look 'ridiculous and pathetic.' 'When two leaders sit down to negotiate with each other, the Americans and the Russians ... and you're not invited there, you don't rush for the phone, you don't run around, you don't shout in from the outside,' Orban stated. 'If you are not at the negotiating table, you are on the menu.' Moscow has already won the conflict against Ukraine, the Hungarian leader added, claiming that Kiev's backers were in denial. 'We are talking now as if this were an open-ended war situation, but it is not. The Ukrainians have lost the war. Russia has won this war,' he stressed. 'The only question is when and under what circumstances will the West, who are behind the Ukrainians, admit that this has happened, and what will result from all this.' A member of both the EU and NATO, Hungary has consistently opposed Brussels' policies on the Ukraine conflict since its escalation in February 2022, including weapons supplies to Kiev and sanctions against Russia. Budapest has also opposed the idea of Kiev joining either of the blocs. Relations between Budapest and Kiev have been further soured by tensions around the Hungarian ethnic minority in Western Ukraine. Last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Kiev has no place in the EU and 'doesn't even belong among civilized nations,' citing the recent death of an ethnic Hungarian allegedly at the hands of Ukrainian draft officers.
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
Zelensky refuses to leave Donbass
Ukrainian troops will not leave the territories they still control in Donbass voluntarily, Ukraine's leader Vladimir Zelensky has said, dismissing the suggestions they could be included in a potential land swap with Russia. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Zelensky claimed that ceding land in Donbass to Russia would only allow it to start a new war in a couple of years and push deeper into Ukraine. 'We will not leave Donbass. We cannot do this. Everyone forgets the main issue—our territories are illegally occupied,' Zelensky stated, alleging that the territory would only serve as a 'springboard' for Moscow to launch a new campaign against Ukraine in a couple of years. 'Any issue of territories cannot be separated from security guarantees. Otherwise, now they want to gift them about 9,000 square kilometers; this is about 30% of the Donetsk region, and this is a springboard for their new aggression,' he claimed. The remarks come after US President Donald Trump repeatedly said the potential peace deal between Moscow and Kiev was bound to involve a land swap and require territorial concessions from both sides. 'They've [Russia] occupied some very prime territory. We're going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine,' Trump said on Monday. The Lugansk (LPR) and Donetsk (DPR) People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions became part of Russia following a series of referendums held in 2022. While the LPR was fully liberated by the Russian military earlier this year, Moscow's control over other regions remains partial. Kiev maintains its claim on the four territories, as well as on Crimea, which voted to join Russia shortly after the 2014 armed Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. Zelensky has repeatedly publicly rejected any territorial concessions to Russia, maintaining his territorial claims. Moscow, however, has insisted that any potential peace deal must involve Ukraine's withdrawal from the country's new regions.
Russia Today
6 hours ago
- Russia Today
Russia has won the war
Russia has already won the Ukraine conflict, and it's now up to the West to acknowledge this outcome, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. Orban made the remarks on Tuesday shortly after he snubbed the latest joint EU statement in support of Ukraine issued ahead of the upcoming meeting between US President Donald and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin scheduled for Friday. Speaking to the 'Patriot' YouTube channel, the PM said he partly opposed the statement as it only made the European Union look 'ridiculous and pathetic.' 'When two leaders sit down to negotiate with each other, the Americans and the Russians ... and you're not invited there, you don't rush for the phone, you don't run around, you don't shout in from the outside,' Orban stated, adding that 'if you are not at the negotiating table, you are on the menu.' Moscow has already won the conflict against Ukraine, the Hungarian leader noted, adding that Kiev's backers are still treating the battlefield situation as if it were 'open-ended' instead of acknowledging this reality. 'We are talking now as if this were an open-ended war situation, but it is not. The Ukrainians have lost the war. Russia has won this war,' he stressed. 'The only question is when and under what circumstances will the West, who are behind the Ukrainians, admit that this has happened, and what will result from all this.' A member of both the EU and NATO, Hungary has consistently opposed Brussels' policies on the Ukraine conflict since its escalation in February of 2022, particularly with respect to supplying Kiev with weapons and imposing sanctions on Russia. Budapest has also opposed the idea of Kiev joining either of the blocs. The ties between Budapest and Kiev have been further soured by tensions around the Hungarian ethnic minority in Western Ukraine. Last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Kiev has no place in the EU and 'doesn't even belong among civilized nations,' citing a recent death of an ethnic Hungarian at the hands of Kiev's draft officers.
