According to unofficial information from Bloomberg from people close to the US administration, The United States opposes the European Union's plan to expand the use of frozen Russian assets by G7 countries to support Ukraine.
American officials were to inform their European partners that they would not join this initiative for now during talks held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington. The reason for the reluctance was indicated risk to market stability.
“This move is a setback for the EUwhich tried to convince other G7 members to join its plan to use frozen central bank assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine of up to EUR 140 billion,” Bloomberg writes.
See also: Russian assets for Ukraine. Friedrich Merz has a proposition
The agency notes that the European Commission is preparing a detailed draft of the mechanism but will not publish it before obtaining the consent of EU leaders, which could happen at a summit in Brussels later this week.
“The United States' response coincides with renewed efforts by the White House to stop fighting in Ukraine. Last week, President Donald Trump received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington and announced plans to meet with Vladimir Putin in Budapest in the near future following a telephone call with the Russian leader.” Bloomberg points out.
Freezing Russian assets. More and more doubts
He adds that Washington's hesitations are likely to strengthen skeptics in the EUincluding in Belgium, where most of these Russian assets are located. Belgians have warned that any prolonged use of these assets could trigger lawsuits that would expose governments to huge liabilities, destabilize the credibility of Europe's financial center and even weaken the euro.
See also: The EU will allocate USD 1.7 billion. from Russian assets to repay Ukraine's loans
The European Central Bank has previously expressed similar concerns. On Sunday, President Christine Lagarde supported the idea of using the assets as collateral, but stressed that it would be better if all countries holding these assets acted together.
Within the G7, the UK and Canada support Europe's initiative, while Japan appears to side with the United Statestaking a more cautious approach.
