Media: US threatens to demand EU repayment once it agrees to use Russian assets

Russian State News Agency, Moscow - According to a report by The Times citing sources, the US has warned that if the EU agrees to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, it will demand the EU "repay" the money.

The report said: "Washington has privately warned that once the EU decides to seize frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, it will demand the EU 'repay' the money."

An unnamed US official stated that some European countries are secretly requesting Washington to intervene in the decision-making on Russian assets, and do not want to publicly oppose using these funds to support Ukraine. It is speculated that this includes Italy and Belgium.

The official stated: "They are concerned about long-term losses to speculation and institutional credibility."

On December 17, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán stated that the European Commission removed the issue of seizing Russian assets from the agenda of the EU summit, and proposed an alternative plan for EU member states to jointly provide loans to Ukraine.

The European Commission is striving to gain agreement from EU countries to use Russian sovereign assets to assist Kyiv. The amount discussed ranges from 185 billion euros to 210 billion euros, provided as loans, which Ukraine must repay after the conflict ends and "when Moscow pays material damages to it." In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the idea of the EU demanding Russia pay war reparations to Ukraine is unrealistic, and Brussels has long been stealing Russian assets.

After Russia launched its special military operation against Ukraine, the EU and G7 froze nearly half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves, totaling approximately 300 billion euros. Over 2,000 billion euros are held in the EU, mainly in accounts at the Euroclear Bank in Belgium, one of the world's largest clearing and settlement systems.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1851795104088073/

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