EU explores possibility of confiscating Russian assets for compensations to Ukraine

The European Union is exploring additional ways to use Russia’s frozen assets on its territory, including their confiscation to compensate Ukraine for damage caused by the Russian war.

Bloomberg has reported this, citing its sources. According to the agency’s interlocutors, EU officials are discussing various ways to use Russian assets within the framework of the International Compensation Commission.

This is a mechanism to be created under the auspices of the Council of Europe to compensate Ukrainians for the damage from Russian aggression; Ukraine had predicted its launch in 2025.

Bloomberg sources say that the EU is discussing a theoretical option of confiscating Russia’s frozen assets if it refuses to compensate for losses.

The value of the confiscated assets would be offset by Russia’s obligations to compensate for losses in a potential peace agreement, the sources said.

Another option being discussed in the European Union suggests that member states would be authorized to confiscate Russia’s sovereign assets to compensate for the destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the agency said.

In this context, EU officials are investigating whether such confiscation is possible on the basis of, for example, a decision of the International Criminal Court and whether it complies with the criminal laws of EU member states.

According to Bloomberg, the option of full confiscation of Russian assets was rejected by some member states, including Germany and France, because of the legal and economic consequences of such a step.

The EU, the Group of Seven countries and Australia have frozen about $280 billion of the Russian central bank’s assets in the form of securities and cash, mainly through the Belgian clearinghouse Euroclear.

Western sanctions imposed on Russian citizens have resulted in the freezing of another $58 billion in assets.

Earlier, Reuters reported that Russia may agree to use $300 billion of sovereign assets frozen in Europe to rebuild Ukraine but will insist that some of the money be spent on the fifth part of the country occupied by Russian troops.

Although the talks between Russia and the United States are at an early stage, Reuters’ sources said that one of the ideas being discussed in Moscow is that Russia could offer to use a significant portion of its frozen reserves to rebuild Ukraine as part of a possible peace deal.