The European Union has halted discussions over the possible confiscation of frozen Russian assets, Deutsche Welle reported, citing the conclusions from the E.U. summit on March 20.
“Subject to EU law, Russia’s assets should remain immobilised until Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by this war,” the document states.
Ahead of the summit, a European diplomat told Deutsche Welle that with talk turning toward a possible ceasefire and future peace negotiations, “people are beginning to understand that holding on to these assets may be more important than confiscating them without knowing what to do with them.”
Discussions about confiscating frozen Russian assets have been ongoing since the start of the full-scale war. At one point, E.U. officials concluded that there was no viable legal basis for such a move, and many member states remained firmly opposed to expropriation. However, as Bloomberg reported recently, the idea was still being actively debated.
More than 260 billion euros (over $281 billion) in Russian assets are currently frozen in the European Union. After the start of the full-scale war, interest earned from reinvesting those funds was redirected to a special fund supporting Ukraine.
