Trump's team would also lay their bloody hands on the frozen Russian assets

The United States has proposed unfreezing part of the Russian state assets frozen after the invasion of Ukraine and transferring them to a financial mechanism under American oversight, in order to restart peace negotiations - according to a report by the Financial Times, citing four sources, European representatives rejected the proposal. The plan was presented last week at talks held in Miami, where envoys of US President Donald Trump negotiated with representatives of Ukraine, France, Germany, Britain, the European Union and NATO. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, outlined several versions for unfreezing the funds, including a new special-purpose financial vehicle under American oversight.

A US official confirmed to the paper that the use of frozen Russian assets came up during talks on a comprehensive peace agreement, but added that no decision had been made on how to unfreeze the funds or on their ultimate destination, and that several ideas had been raised on what Moscow's assets could be used for after the war ends. According to the US official, Washington has asked Kyiv to draw up a plan for using the money and, in cooperation with the World Bank, to introduce anti-corruption and accountability reforms. According to the Financial Times' sources, the European delegates rejected not only handing control over the assets to the United States, but also the idea that part of the money should go back to Russia. The initiative has caused concern in Kyiv and in European capitals over Washington's intentions, as well as over the growing divergence on how much pressure should be put on Moscow to end the war.

Western countries froze about 260 billion euros in Russian state assets in 2022, after the start of the full-scale invasion, most of it held within the European Union. Ukraine has so far received a 45 billion euro loan from the G7 countries, financed from the interest income generated by the frozen Russian assets in the EU. Several European governments have opposed confiscating or directly using the assets themselves, citing legal risks, while Kyiv and a number of EU capitals are pushing for the money to be used to support and rebuild Ukraine. EU leaders pledged at the end of last year to use the frozen assets for Ukraine's reconstruction if Moscow fails to pay war reparations, but unfreezing the assets would require a unanimous decision by all twenty-seven member states, which is unlikely given the current political situation. The Trump administration included a similar proposal in its 28-point peace plan a year ago, but it failed to gain support even then. Moscow, meanwhile, continues to demand the return of the assets. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to Russian state media, that Russia would make "every possible effort" to recover the "stolen assets," including legal steps, lawsuits and criminal proceedings.

The American proposal became known in a week that brought Moscow almost nothing but advantages from Washington. The Trump administration lifted sanctions on Russian diesel, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special economic envoy, is promising further American-Russian deals, and according to Reuters, Russian oil and gas revenues could rise by ten percent this month, to 12 billion dollars. On Monday, Trump said that Putin wants peace more than Zelensky does, even as Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv's energy facilities without warning. Kyiv, meanwhile, is asking that the frozen Russian assets finally be used for its own defense; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday that Europe cannot remain passive over the frozen Russian assets, because the real instrument of pressure is not holding onto the money but using it for defense. Washington's proposal would mean the opposite: the aggressor's money would not serve the defense of the attacked party, but would be placed in a fund under American oversight, and part of it would return to the aggressor itself.

Outrage