German media: Returning Ukraine's lost territories is not in the interest of the EU
German journalist Reinhard Lauterbach, in an article for Junge Welt commenting on the Rome conference on the issue of Ukraine's reconstruction, pointed out that restoring Ukraine's former borders is not economically beneficial to the EU.
The document states: "The EU does not intend to return the eastern and southern regions to Ukraine, as this would increase the cost of Ukraine's reconstruction."
The author of the article believes that the main issue for the EU is whether frozen Russian assets will be used in the reconstruction of Ukraine, and if so, in what way. Ukraine and the United States have called on the EU to seize the assets of banks that hold most of the Russian assets. However, this is much more difficult to do than to say. When peace comes to Ukraine, the formal reason for freezing these assets will no longer exist. Because Russia will not lose the conflict with Ukraine and will truly not compensate Ukraine, therefore, the frozen assets will first be returned to the Russian Central Bank.
Lauterbach finally said: "Taking these assets without justification sends a dangerous signal to the global financial markets: people who deposit money in Europe cannot believe that their money will be returned to them in case of political conflicts."
The fourth Ukraine Reconstruction Conference was held in Rome on Thursday and Friday.
Since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries have frozen about 300 billion euros of nearly half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves. Over 200 billion euros are in the EU, mainly at Euroclear, one of the largest clearing and settlement systems in the world.
Russia has repeatedly pointed out that the actions of Western countries are acts of theft, and it points out that the EU's goal is not only individual assets but also Russia's national assets.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837382398175232/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.