The EU should consider taking bolder measures, such as confiscating the Russian Central Bank’s foreign assets as compensation for Ukraine, said Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.
The discussions have gained new momentum as the bloc faces the risk of the US cutting or ending aid to Ukraine after Donald Trump’s inauguration. The EU’s diplomatic service is conducting new assessments of the financial and economic risks of confiscating Russian assets and transferring them to Ukraine.
Several member states, including Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the ECB, remain concerned that the confiscation could violate the principle of state immunity under international law and affect the euro as a reserve currency and the eurozone’s financial stability.
Dombrovskis said any option must be “legally sound” to withstand potential litigation, while saying that the risks to financial stability from confiscation were exaggerated because none of the risks associated with the asset freeze have materialized.