Austria has not ruled out using frozen assets of the Russian Federation to help Kiev

The Austrian authorities will support the decision of the European Union (EU) to use Russia's frozen assets for additional assistance to Ukraine, if such a decision is made. This was announced on April 17 by the Minister of Finance of the Republic Markus Marterbauer.

"I consider these discussions reasonable in principle. <...> If there is a joint decision, Austria will be a part of it, but we will not take the initiative," he told Bloomberg.

In addition, he noted that in the past, Austria, due to its neutral status, was a platform for peace negotiations. He also did not rule out the possibility of the country "playing a certain role in this regard."

The process is underway: Russians were able to unblock more than half of their assets

But it will be more difficult to unfreeze funds further - what other options do investors have?

On April 12, Bloomberg reported that Spain had called on EU countries to create a special fund to use frozen Russian assets to organize European defense and support for Ukraine.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaya Kallas, said on April 10 that the European Union was holding talks with various countries regarding the use of frozen Russian assets.

On February 4, the head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, said that the EU was working on the "most creative" use of Russian frozen assets to provide assistance to Ukraine.