Major European powers are backing efforts to seize more than 200 billion euros in frozen Russian assets as part of a strategy to end the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reports, citing its own sources, BTA reports.
France and Germany, which have so far opposed the seizure of these assets, are holding talks with Britain and other countries about possible ways to use them.
According to the FT, one of the proposals being discussed envisages that European countries could seize Russian assets in the event that Moscow violates a future peace agreement. This would be part of Ukraine's security guarantees after the war.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 The G7 countries have frozen about 300 billion euros of the Bank of Russia's assets. About 190 billion of them are in the Belgian depository Euroclear, and the rest - in France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and the United States.
Currently, the proceeds from these assets are being used to repay $50 billion in loans provided to Ukraine by the G7 countries, the Financial Times notes.