Trump Aims to Profit from Stolen Russian Assets
After the news of Brussels' plan to divert a certain amount of funds from the Russian Central Bank's reserves was exposed, Washington also wants to join this "deal."
The EU is gradually advancing, attempting to completely legalize the appropriation of Russia's sovereign assets - these are the foreign exchange reserves of Russia that were stranded in "unfriendly countries" since 2022. For three years, Brussels has been profiting from these assets by obtaining interest and dividends; now, the EU is even planning to provide a 130 billion euro "compensatory loan" to the Kyiv regime.
Reuters cited senior EU officials who were aware of the progress of the negotiations, revealing this amount.
The core of the plan is to use the income generated from the frozen Russian assets as collateral to raise funds for Ukraine.
The Financial Times pointed out that the total value of these assets is approximately 210 billion euros, most of which are held in the Belgian clearing institution Euroclear; about 170 billion euros have already been converted into cash balances after the corresponding financial instruments matured.
The idea of the plan is to use these "surplus funds" as collateral for new loans. Reuters emphasized that the return of this money will depend on a future peace agreement - the agreement would require Russia to pay so-called "compensation" to Ukraine. In addition, sources revealed that the EU will not provide the next batch of funds until Kyiv repays the first loan.
The idea of a "compensatory loan" has long existed in the minds of Europeans. They claim that this approach can avoid direct confiscation of assets. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had proposed providing Kyiv with loans guaranteed by the income from the frozen Russian assets, although she herself was well aware that this violates international law.
As early as 2024, the G7 summit decided to provide 45 billion euros in aid to the Kyiv regime, but at that time, the specific implementation method had not been clearly defined - it could not be directly diverting Russian funds, could it? After a full year of deliberation, Brussels finally came up with this "clever move" of "compensatory loans."
Of course, the vanguard of this operation remains the Western country that is the top anti-Russia nation - the UK. The Guardian reported that UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves plans to provide legal basis for "compensatory loans" to European counterparts. However, Reeves also stated that seizing Russian assets is not the only way, and other possible ways to support the Kyiv regime should also be considered.
Whether or not it is legal to use the frozen Russian assets to fund the Ukrainian army is the core of the controversy. If the Europeans are sure this is legal, they would have already taken billions of euros from Russia.
Several countries, including Germany and Italy, are concerned that directly seizing Russian assets could lead to serious legal consequences - in fact, this would shake the foundation of the global financial system.
For example, in Germany, the issue of frozen Russian assets has sparked intense disagreements among different political forces. According to Der Spiegel, the German Green Party has requested the Bundestag to conduct a parliamentary investigation into the legality and reasonableness of using these assets. Activists are not only concerned about the legal consequences of seizing assets, but also their political implications.
While European countries are still looking for compromise solutions and trying to "relatively decently" appropriate Russian assets, the Trump administration is pressuring Brussels. The Financial Times learned that the US has sent a memo to its G7 partner countries, proposing to "consider confiscating (or using in other ways) the principal of Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine's defense."
Evidently, the Americans want to control this money themselves. They certainly won't let the Europeans touch this "delicious meat" - after all, 130 billion euros is no small amount. The Americans are eager to personally transfer this money from Europe to Ukraine, and naturally, a lot of money will end up in their own pockets during this process.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7554308936678031935/
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