US floats unfreezing some Russian assets to restart Ukraine peace talks

The US has proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets immobilized following Russia’s war in Ukraine and transfer them to a financial vehicle overseen by Washington in an effort to revive peace negotiations, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

Citing four people briefed on the matter, the newspaper reported that the proposal was discussed during meetings in Miami last week between US President Donald Trump’s peace negotiators and officials from Ukraine, France, Germany, the UK, the European Union and NATO.

According to the report, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner presented several possible mechanisms for releasing the assets, including transferring them to a new special-purpose financial vehicle under US oversight.

European delegates rejected the proposal, the newspaper reported, saying the initiative had surprised European capitals and Kyiv and raised questions about Washington’s approach to pressuring Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.

A US official told the newspaper that the use of frozen Russian assets had been discussed as part of a comprehensive peace agreement but that the mechanisms for releasing the funds and determining how they would be spent remained under consideration.

The official added that various proposals had been advanced over time regarding the potential use of Russia’s immobilized assets after the war.

Ukrainian officials involved in the negotiations said the issue had also been discussed with their US counterparts during previous meetings, according to the report.

Western countries froze approximately €260 billion ($302 billion) in Russian sovereign assets in 2022 in response to President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, with the bulk of the funds held in the EU.

The frozen assets have become a major point of debate among Ukraine’s Western allies over how to finance Kyiv’s defense and reconstruction while ensuring that Russia bears the financial consequences of its war.