EU Commission Head von der Leyen Proposes to Create Structure to Manage Frozen Russian Assets

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Wednesday to create a special structure to manage the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank and private assets to support Ukraine.

"In the short term, we could create, with our partners, a structure to manage these funds [frozen assets] and invest them," von der Leyen said in an address, broadcast on her Twitter.

On Monday, the EU Council approved the decision to include circumvention and violation of European sanctions in the list of EU criminal offenses. According to a previous statement by EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, such a step would pave the way for the confiscation of Russian assets in the European Union.

Brussels slapped several rounds of sanctions on Moscow after the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine back in February, freezing 17.4 billion euros ($18 billion) of Russian assets, while in total the US and their allies have arrested assets worth over $300 bln.

Moscow has repeatedly criticized the EU's attempts to confiscate Russian assets, condemning what it considers an illegal seizure - an expropriation violating the European Constitution and international law warning that Russia would do everything possible to return the seized assets.