Von der Leyen announced the freezing of Russian assets until the EU decides otherwise

Russian assets frozen in the European Union (EU) will remain blocked until the EU makes another decision. This was stated on December 17 by the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen, speaking to members of the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels.

"Russian assets will remain frozen until we make a different decision," she said, the broadcast of the speech was published on the EP website.

According to von der Leyen, these funds can be a "real turning point" for the support of Ukraine and for Europe itself.

The head of the EC also said that the EU should determine the financing mechanism for Kiev for the next two years by the end of the year. She offered two options: a European loan or the use of proceeds from frozen Russian assets. The topic will be one of the central ones at the upcoming EU summit.

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On the same day, Politico reported that the United States was putting pressure on Europe to abandon its plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine. The article noted that Belgium, where the blocked assets are located, as well as Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Malta are opposed to the plan, fearing risks to their economies.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on December 16 that the chances of the EU making a decision on using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine are 50%. According to him, concerns about the decision to use Russian assets exist throughout Europe.

On December 3, the European Commission approved a potential "reparation loan" for Ukraine, which implies the expropriation of sovereign Russian assets in Europe. Later, on December 12, the Politico newspaper reported that Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, Malta opposed the EU proposal to transfer frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine, which amount to about €210 billion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 27 that the confiscation of Russian assets located in the European Union would have negative consequences. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added on December 15 that the situation with frozen Russian assets shows that "theft is in the blood of Europeans."

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