EU studies how to use Russia's central bank assets to help Ukraine
The European Union is studying the feasibility of using Russia’s central bank assets to help rebuild Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. EU member states have frozen billions of dollars worth of Russian central bank assets. Discussions are at an early stage, and legal experts have recently been commissioned to study possible options, the people said. Assessing whether or how to control these assets is extremely complex, and there may be legal issues. The options will focus on how to eventually recover some $300 billion of the Russian central bank's funds, which were frozen by the European Union, the United States and other allies in the wake of Russia's military campaign. Any EU action would be focused on European-controlled assets, the people said. It is unclear which assets the EU has frozen. It was unclear whether the Biden administration would also take steps to seize Russian dollar reserves, two of the people said.
