The European Union has decided to indefinitely freeze Russian assets within the EU, clearing a major obstacle for the EU to use Russia's frozen assets to finance Ukraine.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the EU Council stated on the 12th that it had made an emergency decision to temporarily prohibit transferring the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank back to Russia. No timeframe was specified for this decision. Prior to this, the EU’s sanctions measures to freeze Russian assets had to be renewed every six months by unanimous agreement among the 27 member states.
European Council President Costa said on social media that EU leaders have pledged to maintain the freeze on Russian assets until Russia ends its conflict with Ukraine and compensates for the resulting damages.
According to European media reports, the Russian central bank assets involved in this decision are valued at about 210 billion euros.
Earlier on the 12th, the Russian central bank said it had filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court against Euroclear, which holds a large amount of Russia's frozen assets, seeking compensation for related losses. The Russian central bank stated that the EU's plan to use Russia's frozen assets is illegal.