“At this point, we have a solution to permanently freeze Russian assets. However, from this point on, the potential use of these funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine, not to mention military support for Ukraine, is still light years away,” he said.
According to Tusk, a decision on allocating these funds to Ukraine will not be made at the summit in Brussels on December 18, where an agreement on financing Ukraine for the next two years is expected to be reached. However, as he noted, there are various indirect mechanisms, for example, the possibility of using these funds as loan guarantees.
When asked whether the US position on this issue coincides with the European position, he noted that the difference in opinions is “absolutely obvious.” “The Americans say: leave these Russian assets alone, because it is difficult to sit down at the negotiating table with [нелегитимным президентом РФ Владимиром] Putin and say: “Let’s compromise, but we will take your money,” said the Polish prime minister.
He noted that Americans are interested in using these funds differently. They would probably use some of them themselves, perhaps in agreement with Russia, he believes.
Context
About €185 billion of frozen Russian assets are managed by the financial depository Euroclear, which is based in Brussels. Another €25 billion is scattered across the EU in private bank accounts, Politico wrote.
In September, EC head Ursula von der Leyen presented a new plan to support Ukraine using frozen Russian assets. As part of this plan, there was a proposal for a so-called reparation loan, which provides for the provision of financing to Ukraine without direct confiscation of assets.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever immediately named three conditions under which he would agree to support the idea of a “reparation loan,” and Valerie Urbain, director of the Belgian depository Euroclear, which manages frozen Russian assets, said that she “does not rule out” legal claims against the European Union if a decision is made to confiscate them.
On December 2, the media reported that the EU had found an opportunity to use Russian billions for the needs of Ukraine without risk to Belgium.
On December 8, The Times' interlocutors reported that at a meeting between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in London, this issue was discussed, and an agreement, they said, was “very close.”
However, on December 12, the European Council agreed on the need to freeze Russian assets in the EU until the end of the war of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
