EU Council working group discusses use of Russian assets for Ukraine's recovery

European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand commented on this at the request of the Ukrinform news agency.

“We intend to ensure that Russia pays for the damage it has done in Ukraine. The European Commission is exploring possible ways to use Russian frozen or blocked assets to finance Ukraine's reconstruction and presented some options in November 2022, following the European Council's conclusions of October 20-21. Further discussions are ongoing at the level of a specially created working group established by the EU Council on February 15, 2023,” the European Commission spokesperson said.

According to Christian Wigand, one of the EC's proposals is to work with the blocked assets of the Russian Central Bank.

“We are working closely with the Swedish EU Presidency to move these discussions forward. Discussions are also ongoing with our international partners (such as the G7) to ensure the necessary coordination at the international level. These measures remain complex from both legal and technical perspectives,” he added.

• On April 4, President Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They discussed the preparation of the 11th sanctions package against Russia.