EU takes first step to use Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine

The EU adopted a law to set aside windfall profits made on frozen Russian central bank assets, it said on Monday, in a first concrete step towards the bloc’s aim of using the money to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The EU and the Group of Seven nations (G7) froze some 300 billion euros ($323 billion) of Russian central bank assets following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU and G7 have been debating if and how these funds can be used for over a year.
The United States has floated the idea of confiscating the assets outright but EU officials view this as legally too risky.
Two thirds of these funds are in the EU with the majority of that held by Belgium’s clearing house Euroclear. So far, only taxes on the assets in Belgium have been earmarked to a dedicated fund for Ukraine handled by the Belgian government.