Spain Seeks to Push Forward EU Debate on Seizing Russian Assets

Spain called on the European Union to move ahead with a discussion about seizing Russia’s frozen central bank assets as the bloc explores ways to provide continued support to Ukraine. 

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters Monday that a debate was “more than legitimate” considering that the EU is already using interest generated by those assets to help Kyiv. 

Spain wants the EU to consider legal options that would allow the use of the assets to support Kyiv militarily as well as to provide compensation for the destruction that Russian forces have wrought in their three-year war, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The EU, Group of Seven nations and Australia have frozen about $280 billion of Russian central bank assets in the form of securities and cash, mostly through the Belgium-based clearinghouse Euroclear.

Sanctions imposed on prominent Russian individuals froze an additional estimated $58 billion in assets, including homes, yachts and private aircraft, according to US Treasury estimates. 

Spain’s move breaks ranks with other western members of the EU, including Germany and Belgium, who have warned of the legal and economic consequences of seizing the assets and how it could affect the international role of the euro. The European Central Bank has also expressed concerns. The EU’s eastern members, including Poland and the Baltic states, have long supported the idea.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Spain spoke in favor of using Russian assets at the meeting of six European countries and the EU’s top foreign policy official, Kaja Kallas, in Madrid. 

The group, which also includes Germany, France, Italy and the UK, reiterated in a statement after the meeting that “Russian assets must remain withheld until Russia ends its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates Ukraine for the damage caused.”

The EU’s executive arm has been exploring more aggressive ways to seize assets, including how they could be used as collateral by a planned International Claims Commission, which will determine compensation owed to Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported last month. The assets could then be seized if Moscow refuses to pay the damages. 

The commission is consulting a number of EU governments on the issue, though talks are at an early stage, according to an official familiar with the discussions. 

The G-7 has already committed to using the profits generated by the immobilized Russian assets to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine. 

“We need to analyze the way to finance the help Ukraine needs,” Albares said. “It’s legitimate to consider the situation of Russian frozen assets.”

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