“Representatives of the US administration put pressure on friendly European governments to reject a plan to use 210 billion euros of frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. Politico writes about this with reference to high-ranking EU officials. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly dismissed claims of US pressure. “Both the Ukrainians and the Russians have clearly outlined their positions on the asset freeze, and our sole task is to facilitate an exchange of views that may ultimately lead to an agreement,” she told NatSec Daily. According to one European official, the chances of reaching an agreement with Belgium, which opposes the use of the assets, have worsened recently. Read also: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave five reasons to make a “critically important” decision regarding the reparation loan. According to Politico, the United States expects to return frozen Russian assets after the signing of the peace agreement. European officials, as the publication notes, are outraged by the prospect that part of the funds may go to the United States, and the rest will be shared between Washington and Moscow. Earlier, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the American side calls on the Europeans not to withdraw assets to provide Ukraine with a “reparation loan”, but to preserve them as an element of future negotiations with Moscow. Politico also reported that Belgium refused to support the use of Russian assets for such a loan, finding the European Commission’s guarantees insufficient. According to Euractiv, the idea of confiscating Russia’s frozen assets is not supported by seven EU countries – Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta and the Czech Republic. Read also: The head of the European Commission considers the next few days to be crucial in supporting Ukraine At the beginning of December, the European Commission offered two options for financing Ukraine – borrowing under the guarantees of the EU budget and a “reparation loan” in the amount of 210 billion euros at the expense of Russian assets. In total, Western countries have blocked Russian assets worth approximately 260 billion euros since the start of the war, most of which are in the Belgian depository Euroclear. On December 12, the EU decided to freeze these funds indefinitely. On the same day, the Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit against Euroclear with the Moscow Arbitration Court in the amount of more than 18 trillion rubles. Against this background, the Fitch agency placed Euroclear Bank on the Rating Watch Negative list, pointing to a possible increase in legal and liquidity risks due to the EU’s plans to use the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. At the same time, Fitch believes that even if these plans are implemented, the risks of the depository will remain at a low level and its credit profile will maintain compliance with the AA rating. It means high solvency and low risk of default. As previously reported by the media, the original US 28-point peace plan assumed that $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be invested in Washington-led Ukraine reconstruction programs, with the US receiving 50% of the profits. The rest of the assets were planned to be sent to a separate American-Russian investment mechanism, but later this point was excluded from the document.”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly dismissed claims of US pressure.
“Both the Ukrainians and the Russians have clearly outlined their positions on the asset freeze, and our sole task is to facilitate an exchange of views that may ultimately lead to an agreement,” she told NatSec Daily.
According to one European official, the chances of reaching an agreement with Belgium, which opposes the use of the assets, have worsened recently.
Read also: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave five reasons to make a “critically important” decision regarding the reparation loan
According to Politico, the United States expects to return the frozen Russian assets after the signing of the peace agreement. European officials, as the publication notes, are outraged by the prospect that part of the funds may go to the United States, and the rest will be shared between Washington and Moscow.
Earlier, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the American side calls on the Europeans not to withdraw assets to provide Ukraine with a “reparation loan”, but to preserve them as an element of future negotiations with Moscow.
Politico also reported that Belgium refused to support the use of Russian assets for such a loan, finding the European Commission’s guarantees insufficient. According to Euractiv, the idea of confiscating Russia’s frozen assets is not supported by seven EU countries – Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta and the Czech Republic.
Read also: The head of the European Commission considers the following days to be crucial in supporting Ukraine
At the beginning of December, the European Commission proposed two financing options for Ukraine – borrowing under the guarantees of the EU budget and a “reparation loan” in the amount of 210 billion euros at the expense of Russian assets. In total, Western countries have blocked Russian assets worth approximately 260 billion euros since the start of the war, most of which are in the Belgian depository Euroclear.
On December 12, the EU decided to freeze these funds indefinitely. On the same day, the Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit against Euroclear with the Moscow Arbitration Court in the amount of more than 18 trillion rubles.
Against this background, the Fitch agency placed Euroclear Bank on the Rating Watch Negative list, pointing to a possible increase in legal and liquidity risks due to the EU’s plans to use the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. At the same time, Fitch believes that even if these plans are implemented, the risks of the depository will remain at a low level and its credit profile will maintain compliance with the AA rating. It means high solvency and low risk of default.
As previously reported by the media, the original US 28-point peace plan assumed that $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be invested in Washington-led Ukraine reconstruction programs, with the US receiving 50% of the profits. The rest of the assets were planned to be sent to a separate American-Russian investment mechanism, but later this point was excluded from the document.