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- Enter into dissonance: disagreements on the confiscation of assets of the Russian Federation divided the European Union
Enter into dissonance: disagreements on the confiscation of assets of the Russian Federation divided the European Union
The first day of the EU summit was held in Brussels. According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the participants allegedly achieved a breakthrough by agreeing that the seizure of Russian assets was a fair decision. Although a number of countries are skeptical about the idea of Brussels, which in Russia is directly called theft. Such intentions by the Europeans only undermine the peace process, Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's international Affairs committee, told Izvestia. According to him, the new security guarantees for Ukraine, which were also discussed at the summit, only delay the peace deal, because Brussels deliberately imposes an unacceptable condition for the Russian Federation.
Will the European Union commit theft of Russian assets
The main task set by the participants of the EU summit is to find a source of financing for Ukraine for the next two years. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that EU leaders would not be able to leave the event until they completed this task. Such rhetoric suggests that European politicians do their best to continue the hot phase of the Ukrainian conflict, Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, told Izvestia.
— Brussels, in fact, does not even hide that it does not want to have any conversation about peace. And all of Trump's plans to achieve a "peace deal" on the Ukrainian conflict in the near foreseeable future will continue to be undermined by representatives of the European "war party."
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
The EU currently does not intend to discuss other options for financing Kiev, except for the confiscation of Russian frozen assets, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stressed. At the summit, he stated that the participants had achieved a breakthrough on this issue, agreeing that such a method "would be fair."
On December 3, the EC Board approved the transfer to Kiev of a "reparation loan" in the amount of 140 billion euros at the expense of Russian assets frozen in Brussels. Ukraine will need €137 billion for 2026-2027, von der Leyen said. On December 12, the EU approved the freezing of Russian funds until the end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. We are talking about blocking assets of the Russian Federation in the amount of €210 billion for an indefinite period instead of voting every six months on its extension. This should prevent Hungary and Slovakia, which have good relations with Russia, from refusing to extend the freeze at some point.
At the same time, it is obvious that the issue of asset confiscation not only caused heated debates at the summit, but, in fact, divided the EU participants into two camps. So, such an idea was initially not supported by seven members of the association: Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, Euractiv wrote. Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever even publicly called for a group to unite in favor of blocking this possible solution. And although the European Commission has prepared all the documents to push through its idea of confiscation, the interests of the countries remain very contradictory, Egor Sergeev, a senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies, told Izvestia.
— For example, if Belgium is against it, then its neighbors in the Netherlands and Luxembourg are in favor of it and against the alternative plan that Belgium is putting forward. That is, they are against the creation of a new credit mechanism at the expense of the EU members themselves," he explained.
The confiscation itself cannot be approved at the EU summit — they will only make a formal political decision there, Egor Sergeev noted. Voting will take place at a meeting of the EU Council on the principle of a qualified majority.
— The qualified majority in the EU is 55% of countries representing at least 65% of the population. There is also a blocking minority — these are at least four countries that must represent at least 35% of the population of the European Union," the expert emphasized.
The most rational EU leaders understand the impact that confiscation will have on individual states and the European Union as a whole, according to Oleg Karpovich, Vice-rector of the Diplomatic Academy.
"The entire association is facing a severe reputational and legal crisis, which may escalate into a financial one," he told Izvestia.
The Kremlin said that in the case of illegal asset confiscation, both entire countries and specific people will be responsible for this. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation made its position, stating that in such a development it would recover the losses incurred in full from European banks in the Russian arbitration court.
The regulator's goal is not so much to fully compensate assets as to provide a symmetrical response to the illegal steps of European banks, Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company, told Izvestia. The lawsuit is based on the provision of the Civil Code on the protection of property rights, he added. According to the analyst, in this situation, the court will side with the regulator, since the reasoning of the Bank of Russia is clear. The defendants will be either Russian subsidiaries or branches of European banks that are present in the Russian Federation. A direct lawsuit against the head office in Europe is impossible due to jurisdiction, Abelev said.
— If these assets are confiscated, they will no longer be able to be included in the peace plan. Then they will go to cover the loans that the EU has allocated to Ukraine. Therefore, the task is to sue this money back. However, this process is difficult to imagine due to the different jurisdictions," independent expert Andrei Barkhota said in a conversation with Izvestia.
On December 12, the Bank of Russia has already filed a lawsuit against the Belgian depository Euroclear due to the approval by the European Commission of a plan to provide Ukraine with a so-called reparation loan at the expense of frozen Russian assets. The Central Bank considers this mechanism illegal and in violation of international law. The amount of this claim is 18.1 trillion rubles.
A peaceful settlement and a new package of sanctions
The leaders gathered in Brussels also discussed the US peace plan, which appeared in the media in 28 paragraphs at the end of November. Donald Trump's team (Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President's son-in-law Jared Kushner) discussed him with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on December 2. Then, on December 14-15, they met in Berlin with Vladimir Zelensky and representatives of the Eurotroika (France, Germany, Great Britain).
Then the parties agreed on Ukraine's refusal to join NATO in exchange for security guarantees. According to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Europeans and Americans are ready to jointly provide them to Kiev.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
"At the same time, President Zelensky referred to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, that is, we are talking about similar security guarantees for Ukraine," the German Chancellor said.
This means an armed conflict between Washington and Brussels if someone attacks Kiev. Russia said that by doing so, the Europeans want to interfere with the peace process.
— Guarantees of Ukraine's security cannot be provided at the expense of a threat to Russia's security. The Europeans are putting forward a deliberately unacceptable condition in order to disrupt the negotiations again," Leonid Slutsky said.
Such steps are being taken in order to interfere with Trump's diplomatic mission, Oleg Karpovich believes. Thus, the EU is trying to impose formulations that are unacceptable to the Russian Federation and which will delay the adoption of the final document as much as possible, Egor Sergeev agrees. Another stumbling block was the exchange of territories. Zelensky said this directly before the start of the EU summit.
"Russia demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass, Ukraine is not ready for this, so the American side is looking for a compromise for a settlement," he told reporters.
The Kremlin has not yet seen the changed format of the peace plan, so Russia is preparing contacts with the United States to understand how much it has been adjusted, Dmitry Peskov said. Negotiations could take place as early as this weekend in the United States.
Meanwhile, while the summit was continuing in Brussels, Zelensky arrived in Warsaw on a visit.
The leaders of the European Union and the Western Balkans during the summit in Brussels
Finally, EU leaders are discussing the issue of new anti-Russian sanctions. Earlier, the foreign ministers of the EU countries approved restrictions against 17 individuals and legal entities, including ships that are considered a "shadow fleet" in the West. The European Union will expand the sanctions list of tankers allegedly carrying Russian oil on a monthly basis, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, promised.
The EU continues to use sanctions as a tool of struggle against the Russian Federation even after the end of the Ukrainian conflict, Egor Sergeev is sure. According to him, the reason lies in the fact that Brussels views Moscow as a strategic adversary, regardless of the outcome of its conflict. Restrictions would have appeared one way or another in our bilateral relations with the EU even without the Ukrainian conflict, the expert is sure.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
