Spain aims to advance EU debate on seizing Russian assets
Spain has urged the European Union to advance discussions on seizing Russia’s frozen central bank assets as the bloc explores options to continue supporting Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters on Monday that a debate was “more than legitimate” considering that the EU is already using interest generated by those assets to help Kyiv, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Spain wants the EU to consider legal options that would allow the use of the assets to support Kyiv militarily as well as to provide compensation for the destruction that Russian forces have wrought in their three-year war, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The EU, Group of Seven nations and Australia have frozen about $280 billion (€260 billion) of Russian central bank assets in the form of securities and cash, mostly through the Belgium-based clearinghouse Euroclear.
Spain’s move breaks ranks with other western members of the EU, including Germany and Belgium, who have warned of the legal and economic consequences of seizing the assets and how it could affect the international role of the euro. The European Central Bank has also expressed concerns. The EU’s eastern members, including Poland and the Baltic states, have long supported the idea.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Spain spoke in favour of using Russian assets at the meeting of six European countries and the EU’s top foreign policy official, Kaja Kallas, in Madrid.
The group, which also includes Germany, France, Italy and the UK, reiterated in a statement after the meeting that “Russian assets must remain withheld until Russia ends its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates Ukraine for the damage caused.”
The commission is consulting a number of EU governments on the issue, though talks are at an early stage, according to an official familiar with the discussions.
The G-7 has already committed to using the profits generated by the immobilized Russian assets to back a $50 billion (€46 billion) loan to Ukraine.
“We need to analyse the way to finance the help Ukraine needs,” Albares said. “It’s legitimate to consider the situation of Russian frozen assets.”
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