Some \u20ac200 billion of Moscow\u2019s funds remain frozen by the Brussels-based clearinghouse, Euroclear<\/p>\n
Kiev\u2019s Western European backers are \u201cdeveloping measures\u201d that would allow them use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, the European Commission (EC) has said in a statement.
\nThe US and its European allies blocked an estimated $300 billion of Moscow\u2019s funds after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, some \u20ac200 billion ($213 billion) of which is held by the Brussels-based clearinghouse, Euroclear. They have already tapped into the revenues generated by the assets to bankroll Kiev. The Russian authorities have described those steps as \u201ctheft\u201d and vowed retaliation.
\nA statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, along with the leaders of Germany, France, several other EU nations plus the UK, which was posted on the EC\u2019s website on Tuesday, insisted that \u201cthe full value\u201d of the frozen Russian money should be employed to make sure that \u201cUkraine has the resources it needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US opposes seizing Russian assets \u2013 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Western leaders are planning to hold several meetings this week to discuss \u201chow to take this work forward,\u201d it read.
\nBloomberg reported on Monday that the US will not be joining the EU-led effort to confiscate the Russian assets. According to the agency\u2019s sources, American officials told their Western European colleagues last week that the move could jeopardize the stability of the international markets.
\nIn recent weeks, the EU nations have been mulling the possibility of providing a \u201creparations loan\u201d of up to \u20ac140 billion ($163 billion) to Kiev, using Russian assets as collateral to back the bonds issued by the bloc.
\nWhile backed by such countries as Germany and France, the proposal faced opposition from Belgium, where Euroclear is based. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever insisted that the liability for the proposed move be shared among all of the bloc\u2019s members, not born by his country alone.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Western Europe \u2018preparing for conflict\u2019 with Russia \u2013 spy chief<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that \u201csmarter\u201d governments oppose the seizure of Russian assets as \u201cthey understand that it would fundamentally undermine all principles of international economic activity and, without a doubt, cause enormous harm to the… international financial system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some \u20ac200 billion of Moscow\u2019s funds remain frozen by the Brussels-based clearinghouse, Euroclear Kiev\u2019s Western European backers are \u201cdeveloping measures\u201d that would allow them use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t