Trump plans to return Russia’s frozen assets to Putin: what’s the condition?
2 December 13:11
The administration of US President Donald Trump plans to return Russia’s frozen assets after the signing of the Ukraine deal and the end of the war, two informed sources told Politico, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to them, American officials informed the EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan during his visit to Washington in the summer.
At the same time, the first peace plan presented by the United States in mid-November included a clause on the use of $100 billion of Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. According to the document, Washington was to receive 50% of the profits from this, and Europe was to add another $100 billion to increase investment in the Ukrainian economy.
Other Russian assets were intended for US-Russian projects. According to Politico’s interlocutors, European officials were outraged at the prospect that the United States would take some of the assets, even if they were nominally used to rebuild the Ukrainian economy, and share the rest with Russia. Later, as Bloomberg reported, the clause on the use of Russian assets was removed from the peace plan.
Meanwhile, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed to provide Ukraine with a “reparations loan” of 140 billion euros secured by the blocked Russian assets. However, the European Central Bank (ECB) refused to provide guarantees for such a loan, according to Financial Times sources. According to the newspaper, European officials asked the bank to act as a lender for the Belgian depository Euroclear, where the bulk of the assets are kept. But the regulator concluded that the proposal was equivalent to monetary financing, which is prohibited by EU treaties.
Belgium also opposes providing Kyiv with a loan from Russian assets. The country’s Prime Minister Bart de Wever has demanded that the EU provide financial guarantees exceeding 140 billion euros, which could be paid within days if Russia sues. De Wever also emphasized that the term of such guarantees should exceed the term of EU sanctions against Russia.
After the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the US and the EU froze the assets of the Central Bank of Russia totaling about 260 billion euros. Most of them (about 193 billion) are in Belgium. European countries have been discussing how to use them to help Ukraine for almost four years.
