Callas questioned the balance of Russian assets frozen by the West

The European Union's (EU) new head of diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, has said that she doubts the balance of Russian assets that have been frozen by the West. Her words were quoted by Politico newspaper on December 11.

Kallas said Russia has legal rights to the assets, but emphasized that the West should use the funds to rebuild Ukraine.

"I doubt there is anything left," Kallas stated.

Last step: West says loan to Kiev agreed from profits from frozen Russian assets

US shifts responsibility for Ukraine to allies

Earlier in the day, The New York Times reported that US President-elect Donald Trump may unfreeze blocked Russian assets and cut aid to Ukraine. It is specified that the lifting of sanctions against Russia will not affect the European part of the approved loan of $20 billion.

The day before Washington allocated to Kiev $20 billion, which is expected to be repaid at the expense of revenues from frozen Russian assets. This was reported by the U.S. Ministry of Finance.

In June, the G7 countries promised in the final statement of the summit in Puglia, Italy, that they would provide Ukraine with about $50 billion in loans by the end of 2024, to be repaid from the proceeds of Russian assets.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.