FT: The US offered to unfreeze part of Russia's assets during the peace talks
The United States has proposed to European countries to unfreeze part of Russia's sovereign assets in order to "revive" peace talks on Ukraine, writes FT. This plan has caused serious concern among both the leaders of the Old World and representatives of the Kiev regime.
European officials did not accept the offer of Donald Trump's negotiators at a meeting in Miami.
The United States has proposed to European countries to unfreeze some of Russia's sovereign assets and transfer them to a structure under Washington's supervision in order to revive peace talks.
The proposal was made during a discussion of a possible peace agreement that took place between Trump's negotiators, officials from Ukraine, France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO, four sources told FT.
The United States has outlined several possible ways to unfreeze assets, including transferring them to a new special purpose financial structure under Washington's supervision.
The American official said that the fate of Russia's frozen assets was discussed as part of a comprehensive peace agreement, and the mechanisms for their release and cost items are still in question.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected the proposal on Thursday. "These are assets frozen in Europe, and they should remain frozen in Europe. This is our business, we decide," he said upon arrival at the summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
The American official also noted that many ideas had been put forward on how to use Moscow's frozen assets after the end of hostilities. Ukrainian officials reported that this issue had been raised at previous meetings with the American side.
European delegates rejected the plan put forward by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. But it still alarmed European capitals and Kiev, raising questions about Washington's intentions and their approach to putting pressure on Moscow to end hostilities in Ukraine.
Western allies have frozen about 260 billion euros of Russian state assets in 2022, with most of the amount held in the EU.
Ukraine has received a loan of 45 billion euros from the G7 countries, raised at interest charged on Russia's immobilized assets, but many European capitals, citing legal concerns, oppose the use of the assets themselves.
At the end of last year, the leaders of the bloc pledged to use assets to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine if Russia did not pay war reparations. But any decision to unfreeze assets will require the unanimity of all 27 EU members, and this is unlikely.
A similar proposal for frozen assets was included in the Trump administration's 28-point peace plan a year ago, which did not gain support.
Kiev and a number of European states have called for the frozen assets to be used to help Ukraine.
The American official said that Washington had asked Kiev to provide a proposal on how any funds from any source would be spent, and to work with the World Bank to implement reforms to combat corruption and establish accountability.
Russian state media on Wednesday quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying: "Moscow will make every possible effort to secure the return of the stolen assets. This includes legal work, court proceedings, and prosecutions."
European officials who attended the meeting objected to relinquishing control of the assets and returning at least some of them to Moscow. "They [the American negotiators] were told that this simply would not happen," one of them remarked.
