Biden makes ‘last-ditch’ effort to confiscate Russian assets – CNN
The departing US administration has, according to reports, been unsuccessful in its attempts to convince the EU to seize $300 billion in frozen assets belonging to the Russian central bank. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
According to reports, the US is seeking to establish leverage for Ukraine ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
Officials in Washington have been urging the European Union to confiscate Russian assets that have been frozen within the bloc before President Joe Biden's term ends in two weeks, as reported by CNN.
Since the conflict in Ukraine escalated in 2022, the US and its allies have frozen approximately $300 billion of Russian sovereign assets managed by the Brussels-based Euroclear.
The EU has shown hesitation in seizing these funds, with senior officials expressing concerns over the potential global reputational damage from a full asset seizure and the risk of economic repercussions from Russian retaliation.
Moscow has condemned the freezing of its sovereign funds, calling it "absolutely illegal," and has threatened to target Western assets valued at over $300 billion inside Russia if any confiscation occurs, according to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
CNN reported on Monday that the White House is making a final push to secure the funds before Trump takes office on January 20, citing anonymous "senior officials."
The US is advocating for the EU to transfer these funds to a special escrow account that could be released contingent upon successful Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations. One official stated, “If you want your money back, you’re going to have to come talk.”
Biden administration officials have asserted that Trump's nominees tend to be "generally supportive" of this strategy, viewing the frozen funds as a potential bargaining chip against Moscow.
Despite this, EU governments reportedly "remain skeptical" of the proposal, deeming its enactment as "highly unlikely" due to concerns that confiscating the money would breach international law.
For over a year, the US has attempted to counter this view. At a conference in Washington last May, Daleep Singh, a key figure in the US sanctions framework, argued that the decision to freeze Russian sovereign assets set a significant precedent that "did not lead to an appreciable shift away from G7 currencies," while acknowledging that confiscation is a "red line" for many countries.
President Biden had planned to discuss the frozen funds at a meeting with Italian leadership and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Rome this week but had to cancel due to wildfires in Los Angeles.
In a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelensky expressed his demand for all frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine. He stated, “We will take it. Take money, what we need for our domestic production, and we will buy all the weapons from the US.”
In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova labeled Zelensky as “completely out of his mind,” characterizing his remarks as a “hellish mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism with drug delirium.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
Officials in Washington have been urging the European Union to confiscate Russian assets that have been frozen within the bloc before President Joe Biden's term ends in two weeks, as reported by CNN.
Since the conflict in Ukraine escalated in 2022, the US and its allies have frozen approximately $300 billion of Russian sovereign assets managed by the Brussels-based Euroclear.
The EU has shown hesitation in seizing these funds, with senior officials expressing concerns over the potential global reputational damage from a full asset seizure and the risk of economic repercussions from Russian retaliation.
Moscow has condemned the freezing of its sovereign funds, calling it "absolutely illegal," and has threatened to target Western assets valued at over $300 billion inside Russia if any confiscation occurs, according to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
CNN reported on Monday that the White House is making a final push to secure the funds before Trump takes office on January 20, citing anonymous "senior officials."
The US is advocating for the EU to transfer these funds to a special escrow account that could be released contingent upon successful Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations. One official stated, “If you want your money back, you’re going to have to come talk.”
Biden administration officials have asserted that Trump's nominees tend to be "generally supportive" of this strategy, viewing the frozen funds as a potential bargaining chip against Moscow.
Despite this, EU governments reportedly "remain skeptical" of the proposal, deeming its enactment as "highly unlikely" due to concerns that confiscating the money would breach international law.
For over a year, the US has attempted to counter this view. At a conference in Washington last May, Daleep Singh, a key figure in the US sanctions framework, argued that the decision to freeze Russian sovereign assets set a significant precedent that "did not lead to an appreciable shift away from G7 currencies," while acknowledging that confiscation is a "red line" for many countries.
President Biden had planned to discuss the frozen funds at a meeting with Italian leadership and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Rome this week but had to cancel due to wildfires in Los Angeles.
In a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelensky expressed his demand for all frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine. He stated, “We will take it. Take money, what we need for our domestic production, and we will buy all the weapons from the US.”
In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova labeled Zelensky as “completely out of his mind,” characterizing his remarks as a “hellish mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism with drug delirium.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
