However, the EUs top diplomat expressed doubts that there would be nothing left from the Russian assets when it were returned.
The new European Union foreign and security commissioner, Kaja Kallas, said Russia would never recover sovereign assets frozen by the EU under sanctions related to Ukraine.
In an interview with Politico on December 10, the EU's top diplomat admitted that Russia has legally "legally aspired" to assets frozen by the West since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. However, Kallas added that the European Union should use the money to rebuild Ukraine before returning any remnant.
"But I doubt there will be anything left over," said the former Estonian prime minister, who left office to take up the EU post. Kallas did not specify whether she was referring to interest generated by Russian assets or those assets themselves.
The US and its allies have frozen about $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank since 2022. The majority of this money, about 197 billion euros ($213 billion), is held at the Belgium-based payment center Euroclear. The money has generated 5.15 billion euros ($5.55 billion) in interest in the first three quarters of this fiscal year.
Earlier this year, the EU decided to provide Ukraine with a portion of its interest. In July, the European Commission announced that it would allocate 1.5 billion euros to Kiev, mostly for weapons, as a first aid package.
In an October press release, Euroclear announced that it had made its first payment of about 1.55 billion euros ($1.63 billion) to the European Fund for Ukraine in July. The second installment, expected to cost up to 1.9 billion euros, could be disbursed next spring.
In June, the G7 countries also agreed to provide Kiev with a $50 billion aid package from the interest of frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. The EU and the US have recently approved contributions of $35 billion and $20 billion, respectively, to the package.
Russia has repeatedly accused the West of "stealing" its money. On December 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described the move of 20 billion USD to Kiev announced by the US Treasury Department a day earlier as "a robbery organized by the G7".
Kallas took over as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from Josep Borrell on December 1. She has supported tougher sanctions against Russia and is known for her tough stance against Moscow.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said last month that Russia will use income from frozen assets of Western investors to respond to moves by the US and EU.
