EU Still Undecided About Confiscating Revenues From Russia's Frozen Assets - Report

ROME (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden has again raised the issue of using revenues from Russia's frozen assets for Ukraine's reconstruction at the G7 virtual summit, but the European Union is undecided about the possible confiscation, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday.

Germany, France, the European Commission and the European Central Bank are still doubting the confiscation of Russia's frozen assets because it may have "difficult" legal consequences and affect the eurozone's image, the newspaper reported.

At the same time, the United Kingdom supported the idea of using the Russian immobilized assets, but the meeting's final statement contained provisions only on boosting efforts to study the procedure's technical aspects, the report said.

On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the EU member states continued discussions on the use of revenues from Russia's frozen assets for rebuilding Ukraine, but no full agreement has been reached so far in this regard. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc was planning to legalize the use of interest revenues from Russia's frozen assets for Ukraine's reconstruction "in the coming days," with the relevant legal steps already initiated.

After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Western and EU countries imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia, including the freezing of nearly half of the country's foreign currency reserves. Russia has maintained that any attempt to confiscate its frozen assets would violate international law and pledged a mirror response.