A sensational deal for 300 billion? Kremlin authorizes the use of frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine

Russia may agree to use 300 billion $ from frozen state assets in Europe to rebuild Ukraine, but will insist that some of the money be spent on the one-fifth of the country that Moscow’s forces control, three sources told Reuters.

Russia and the United States held their first face-to-face talks on ending the war in Ukraine on February 18 in Saudi Arabia, and U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they hoped to meet soon.

After Putin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, the U.S. and its allies banned transactions with the Russian central bank and finance ministry, blocking $300 billion to $350 billion worth of Russian sovereign assets. dollars, mostly European, US and British government bonds held in a European securities depository.

Although discussions between Russia and the US are at a very early stage, one idea being floated in Moscow is that Russia could offer to use a large part of the frozen reserves to rebuild Ukraine as part of a possible peace deal, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Vast areas of eastern Ukraine have been devastated by the war, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed or wounded on both sides and millions of Ukrainians fleeing to European countries or Russia. The World Bank estimated a year ago that reconstruction and rebuilding would cost $486 billion.

The sources spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions and because the discussions are only preliminary. The Kremlin declined to comment.

The idea that Russia might agree to use frozen funds to help rebuild Ukraine has not been reported before and could provide insight into what Russia is willing to compromise on as Moscow and Washington seek to end the war, at a time when Trump is pushing for U.S. access to Ukrainian minerals to repay Washington's support.