Brussels proposes plan to confiscate frozen Russian assets

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed confiscating Russian assets that have been frozen to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, exploring legal options with the EU’s partners to compensate Kyiv for damage to the country.
Officials in the European Union, the United States and other Western countries have debated for months how to legally seize Russian assets held abroad – both state and private – that are frozen by sanctions.
The problem is that in most EU member states, seizing frozen assets is only legally possible where there is a criminal conviction. Also, many assets of blacklisted Russian citizens are difficult to seize or even freeze because they are registered as belonging to family members or front people.