The United States has proposed that European countries consider unfreezing a portion of Russian sovereign assets frozen in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and transfer them into a financial vehicle managed by Washington in an effort to restart peace negotiations. This proposal emerged during talks held last week in Miami involving representatives from Ukraine, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and NATO, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
Officials described several potential mechanisms for unfreezing the assets, including their relocation into a special-purpose fund overseen by the U.S. The intention behind the move is to use these funds as part of a comprehensive peace agreement, although details regarding the release and allocation of the assets remain under consideration.
Despite Washington’s efforts, the proposal has encountered significant resistance from European leaders. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly rejected the idea, asserting that the frozen assets, which are held primarily in European jurisdictions, should remain under European control. “These are assets that are frozen in Europe and they should stay frozen in Europe. This is our matter, and we decide on it,” Merz stated.
European delegates present at the discussions reportedly pushed back firmly against relinquishing any authority over the assets, emphasizing that ceding control to an American-managed entity was not acceptable. Sources say they conveyed to U.S. representatives that this arrangement “was just simply not going to happen.”
The freeze of Russian state assets, estimated at around €260 billion and largely held within the EU, followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, Western allies have used the interest generated from these immobilized assets to extend approximately €45 billion in loans to Ukraine, primarily through G7 financing. However, many European capitals have expressed legal and political concerns about using the principal assets themselves before the end of the conflict. EU leaders agreed last year that if Russia does not pay war reparations, these funds would be redirected to Ukraine's reconstruction, though such a decision would require unanimous consent from all 27 EU member states—a consensus viewed as unlikely in the near term.
The U.S. initiative is not new; a similar proposal appeared in the Trump administration’s peace plan last year but did not gain significant support. The current U.S. approach, spearheaded by special envoy Steve Witkoff and former presidential adviser Jared Kushner, has raised questions among European and Ukrainian officials about Washington's distinct strategy for pressuring Moscow to cease hostilities.
A U.S. official indicated that Washington has requested Kyiv to produce a detailed plan for the possible use of any funds, regardless of their source, and to work with the World Bank on implementing reforms aimed at curbing corruption. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia would make every effort to secure the return of what Moscow terms “stolen assets.”
The contrasting views on the management of these frozen assets reflect broader complexities surrounding efforts to negotiate peace and address the financial aftermath of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. As discussions continue, the question of how and whether to deploy these frozen Russian assets remains a contentious issue among Western allies and Kyiv.