LONDON, October 2. /TASS/. EU leaders are unlikely to consider use of seized Russian assets to support Ukraine at their next summit in Brussels later this month, the Financial Times concluded. According to the newspaper, at a meeting in Copenhagen, EU leaders instructed the European Commission (EC) to further study legal and fiscal implications of using seized Russian assets.
On October 1, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at the press conference that no decision would be made on the seized Russian assets at the informal meeting of EU heads of states and governments in Copenhagen and more specific measures would be taken at the end of October at the earliest.
The European publication Politico reported earlier that the EC plans to present a decision on frozen Russian assets by the end of the month.
According to the FT, on October 1, during a brief discussion of a proposal to loan Ukraine the monetary value of frozen Russian assets, EU leaders stated that, while they are willing to accept the general principle, the European Commission needs to further study the legal and tax implications. Officials stressed that this delay means the EC is unlikely to present a formal legal proposal to EU leaders at their next meeting in Brussels in three weeks. This would require, at a minimum, extensive preparatory work.
On September 10, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EC does not intend to confiscate frozen Russian assets in the West, but will use proceeds from them to issue loans to Ukraine. The majority of Russia's sovereign assets frozen in Europe—just over 200 billion euros —are blocked on the Euroclear platform in Belgium. The depository has repeatedly opposed their expropriation, warning that it could lead to Russia seizing European or Belgian assets elsewhere in the world through legal proceedings. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz previously stated in a Financial Times article that Berlin supports the issuance of a loan to Ukraine using Russian assets.