US backs EU plan to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine

The United States fully supports the European Union’s plans to use frozen Russian assets as a means to aid Ukraine and help end the war with Russia, a U.S. source familiar with the matter told Reuters on November 7.

As Western nations seek to increase pressure on Moscow, the European Commission has proposed a framework allowing EU governments to utilise up to €185 billion ($217 billion) of Russia’s sovereign assets currently frozen in Europe—most of the total €210 billion—without formally confiscating them.

“Washington absolutely supports the EU and the steps they’re taking right now to be in a position to make use of those assets as a tool,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing nature of the issue.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies froze transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, effectively immobilising roughly $300 billion in sovereign Russian assets.

The European proposal, however, faces delays amid concerns from Belgium, where the majority of these frozen assets are held. On Friday, Germany suggested that recent drone sightings over airports and military installations in Belgium could have been a warning from Moscow not to seize the frozen funds. Russia has denied any involvement in the incidents but warned that any confiscation of its assets would provoke a “painful response.”

In a renewed effort to pressure Moscow into ending the conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump last month imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. These measures add to an unprecedented suite of economic sanctions aimed at constraining Russia’s finances and influencing the Kremlin toward a peace deal in its ongoing 3½-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. is monitoring the impact of the Rosneft and Lukoil sanctions closely, with the source noting that “there are more things we could do to try to up the pressure” on Russia.

By Tamilla Hasanova