The European Commission is working on a mechanism that would allow nearly €200 billion in frozen Russian assets to be transferred into a special fund and directed toward Ukraine’s reconstruction after the war, APA reports citing Politico.
Brussels is testing the readiness of national governments to transfer the assets into higher-risk investments that could generate greater returns for Ukraine while increasing pressure on Russia, which continues to refuse to end its aggression.
Proponents also see the scheme as a step towards potential confiscation of Russian assets and their transfer to Ukraine as punishment for Moscow’s refusal to pay postwar reparations.
The plan, however, does not provide for immediate confiscation, which most EU countries oppose for financial and legal reasons.
On Saturday, the issue will be discussed for the first time by the foreign ministers of the EU’s 27 member states during an informal meeting in Copenhagen. A preparatory note reviewed by Politico mentions "further options for the use of revenues stemming from Russian immobilised sovereign assets".
"We hear that it’s more difficult to raise money [from national finances or the EU budget]. [But] we have those assets there and the logical question is how can we and why don’t we use those assets," Kerli Veski, Undersecretary for Legal and Consular Affairs at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Politico.
Within the European Commission, the idea is being pushed by Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
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