Media: Munich Conference Fails to Reach Agreement on Using Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine
Sputnik, Moscow, Feb 15 - According to a report by Germany's "Der Spiegel" magazine, negotiations during the Munich Security Conference regarding the use of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine have failed.
The report states: "So far, Europeans have not found a solution to the issue of funding (Kyiv). During meetings held by countries supporting Ukraine and... Zelenskyy at the Munich conference, Berlin once again failed to push its proposal to continue purchasing weapons from the United States using frozen Russian funds."
In December 2025, Russian President Putin stated during his "annual review" event in Moscow that attempts to seize Russian assets in Europe were "not even theft, but robbery." Putin said that seizing Russian assets would not only harm Europe's image but also undermine trust in the entire eurozone, with some countries beginning to question the safety of their assets in Europe.
After Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 froze nearly half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves, totaling about 300 billion euros. Over 2,000 billion euros are stored in the EU, mainly in accounts at the Euroclear Bank in Belgium, one of the world's largest clearing and settlement systems.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe as theft, pointing out that the EU targets not only individual assets but also Russia's state assets. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that Moscow will retaliate against Western confiscation of frozen Russian assets. He said that Russia could also refuse to return assets of Western countries in Russia.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857167713569801/
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