PARIS, September 10. /TASS/. The European Commission (EC) will not confiscate seized Russian assets in the West, but will use cash balances tied to them to provide Ukraine with a reparation loan, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said at the session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
She said that EU countries need to urgently work on a new solution to finance Ukraine's military response based on seized Russian assets.
"With the cash balances associated with these Russian assets we can provide Ukraine with a reparation loan. The assets themselves will not be touched and the risk will have to be carried collectively. Ukraine will only pay back the loan once Russia pays for the reparations. The money will help Ukrainians already today, but also be crucial in the mid and long term for Ukraine’s safety," she said.
In fact, von der Leyen described a mechanism for disguised expropriation of Russian sovereign assets. It means that real assets are secretly transferred to Ukraine, while the media will publish claims that this money allegedly remains frozen. Brussels intends to calm the global financial markets with assurances that this money was issued in the form of loans that Ukraine will allegedly repay in the distant future, and thus the money will be returned.
Belgium’s stance
This mechanism has been discussed for over a year, and Belgium previously opposed it, fearing that the deception would be exposed and Russia would begin to seize Belgian assets in foreign jurisdictions through the courts, since the bulk of Russian assets are blocked on the Belgian platform Euroclear.
Earlier, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevost told the Financial Times that Belgium was ready for operations to maximize profits from frozen Russian assets on its territory, provided that all EU member states shared the legal risks associated with these procedures. Until now, Belgium had refrained from any attempts to use Russian assets.
Russia’s response
The majority of Russia's sovereign assets frozen in Europe - just over 200 billion euros - are blocked on the Euroclear depository platform in Belgium. The depository has repeatedly spoken out against the expropriation of assets, warning, in particular, that this could lead to Russia seizing European or Belgian assets in other parts of the world through legal proceedings.
Speaking at a press conference following his visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the general financial and economic order in the world would be destroyed, and economic separatism would only intensify if the West stole frozen Russian reserves. He noted that alliances are already being created in many countries around the world that are trying to implement their own economic development plans within individual regions. Earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would definitely respond to the theft of its assets in Europe. He stressed that Moscow intends to take legal action against those involved.