EU foreign policy official: It is unlikely that anything will remain of Russia’s blocked assets

The EU’s new foreign policy chief Kaya Callas admitted to Politico that Russia has a “legitimate claim” to assets it has blocked from the West since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022.

However, the EU should use the cash to rebuild Ukraine before returning what is left, he added.

“But I doubt there will be anything left,” said the former Estonian prime minister.

Kalas did not specify whether he meant profits from Russian assets or the principal of the assets.

The US and its allies have disabled about $300 billion of Russian central bank assets starting in 2022. Most of the funds, about 197 billion euros ($213 billion), are kept at the Euroclear clearinghouse based in Brussels.

Earlier this year, Brussels decided to give part of the profits ($5.55 billion in interest in the first three quarters of the fiscal year) to Ukraine. In July, the European Commission announced that it would provide Kyiv with 1.5 billion euros, mostly for weapons, as the first installment of aid. Euroclear announced in a press release in October that it had made the first payment of about 1.55 billion euros ($1.63 billion) to the European Fund for Ukraine in July. According to reports, the second installment, which is expected to amount to 1.9 billion euros, could be paid next spring.

The Group of 7 countries also agreed in June to give Kiev a $50 billion aid package that will be financed by proceeds from frozen assets of the Russian central bank. The European Union and the United States recently agreed to contribute $35 and $20 billion to the package.

Russia has repeatedly accused the West of “stealing” its money. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday described the $20 billion transfer to Kiev announced by the US Treasury a day earlier as “organized theft by the G7.”

On December 1, Callas took over the EU’s highest diplomatic post from Josep Borrell. He has supported tougher sanctions against Russia and is known for his tough stance against Moscow.

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