The European Commission is devising a scheme to transfer almost €200 billion in Russian immobilized assets to rebuild Ukraine at the end of the war, APA reports citing POLITICO.
Brussels is testing the appetite of national capitals for moving the assets into riskier investments that could generate more profits for Ukraine and amp up pressure on Russia as it refuses to stop the fighting, several officials told POLITICO.
Supporters also see the scheme as a step toward potentially seizing the assets and handing them over to Ukraine as a punishment for Russia’s refusal to pay post-war compensation.
“We are advancing the work on the Russian frozen assets to contribute to Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction,” the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday, in her strongest remarks so far on the subject.
Crucially, this option would fall short of immediately confiscating the assets, which a majority of EU countries oppose due to financial and legal concerns.
Talks will come to a head on Saturday when the EU’s 27 foreign ministers debate the option for the first time during an informal gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark.
With Ukraine facing an estimated €8 billion budget shortfall in 2026, EU countries are looking for new ideas to continue funding the war-battered country amid squeezed domestic budgets and no room to issue EU-wide debt.
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