Bloomberg: US distances itself from EU plan to use Russian assets
Photo: White House / Flickr

The U.S. side has informed its European counterparts that it is not going to join the Group of Seven (G7) countries' plan to use frozen Russian assets, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources.

"US officials told European counterparts during conversations on the sidelines of the IMF session in Washington last week that they would not join the initiative for now," the agency's interlocutors said .

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According to one of them, Washington fears that the use of assets could pose risks to market stability. Another source added that the United States is now simply taking a wait-and-see attitude .

This coincided with a new attempt by the White House to bring about a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.

In September, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the United States is open to the possibility of using about $5 billion in Russian assets frozen in the country. "We have already passed a resolution that allows us to confiscate them. But we have not yet announced that we will do so," he said .

The agency notes that within the G7, opinions on this issue are divided. The United Kingdom and Canada support the European initiative, while Japan takes the same approach as the United States.

"If the position has really and consistently changed, we will get the EU plus UK format again to implement our plans. This is not impossible. But it will be difficult." Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk reacted to Bloomberg's publication.

He added that this is an unexpected change, as the US expressed full support at last week's meetings.

Vlasyuk suggested that "this US maneuver with Russian assets, as well as its position on tariffs and sanctions, is just another descent on a winding road.".

  • The European Union, which holds the vast majority of frozen Russian assets, , plans to use them to provide financial assistance to Ukraine in the coming years. The money will be taken from the frozen accounts of the Russian central bank in the Euroclear depository. The proposal stipulates that the assets will remain formally untouched - they will not be confiscated, only the cash received as a result of the freezing will be used.
  • Ukraine will have to repay the loan after the war and after receiving reparations from Russia.
  • The loan will be covered by guarantees of member states, which should protect the EU from financial risks in case of unfreezing of Russian assets without Russia paying reparations to Ukraine. The European Commission proposes to create a common guarantee mechanism that would distribute any potential risk among all EU countries.
  • In 2024, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in response to a law allowing the White House to confiscate Russian assets, signed a decree that allows for the confiscation of American assets - not only state-owned but also private.