BRUSSELS, 30 Oct.The European Commission is not yet ready to name the timing of submitting a proposal on the use of frozen assets of the Russian Federation, EC representative Tim McPhee said at a briefing in Brussels.
“»We welcome the conclusions of the EU summit on frozen Russian assets and have already begun to act; we cannot yet name any specific deadlines, but we are already acting,” he said.
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, following the results of the European summit last Friday, said that the EU leaders instructed the European Commission and the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, to complete the preparation of proposals on a mechanism for using profits from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation.
Despite repeated statements by the EC about the possibility the use of frozen Russian assets for the needs of the restoration of Ukraine, while there is no legislative basis for such actions in the European Union. Russian Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, noting that the EU is targeting not just private funds, but also Russian state assets. In February, a source in the EU explained to journalists that the European Union is considering the use of assets of the Russian Central Bank for the restoration of Ukraine, their possible investment, but not confiscation.