US floated unfreezing part of Russian assets to revive Ukraine talks, Europe refused
The Financial Times reports that Washington proposed releasing part of Russia's frozen state assets under US oversight to restart Ukraine peace talks. European participants at the Miami meeting refused the plan.
The US proposal
The Financial Times reported on Thursday, 15 October, that the United States had proposed releasing part of Russia's frozen state assets and placing them under American oversight. The newspaper cited four sources and said the idea was presented in early October during talks in Miami. Special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who work for President Donald Trump, were named as the authors of the plan. The Miami meeting included representatives of the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO.
According to the FT, Washington put forward several ways to unlock the money, including moving the assets into a special fund supervised by the United States. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the release mechanisms and the intended use of the money were still part of discussions on a broader peace agreement. In the American assessment, such a step would push Moscow to resume peace negotiations.
- Western governments freeze about 260 billion euros of Russian state assets
- US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner float the unfreezing idea at talks in Miami
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia will take every possible legal step to recover its assets
- Financial Times reports the US proposal and the European rejection, citing four sources
Europe refuses
European participants at the Miami talks rejected two elements of the plan, the FT said: handing control of the assets to the United States and returning any portion of them to Russia. The paper reported that the proposal also unsettled European and Ukrainian officials. They raised questions about US intentions and about how the idea fit with a strikingly different approach to pressuring Russia to end the war.
Frozen assets and the Kremlin reaction
Western governments froze about 260 billion euros of Russian state assets after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and most of that money sits in the European Union. The EU has not transferred these funds to Ukraine. Instead it uses the income they generate to support Kyiv, and that income secured a 45 billion euro loan from the Group of Seven (G7) to Ukraine. EU leaders have said the assets themselves would go toward rebuilding Ukraine if Russia does not pay war reparations.
- Frozen Russian state assets
- 260 billion euros
- G7 loan to Ukraine
- 45 billion euros
Unlocking the assets would require unanimous consent from all EU member states, a condition the FT sources said would make the US initiative harder to advance. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, 14 October, that Russia would take every possible legal step to recover its assets.
What remains open
The mechanisms for releasing the money and its eventual purpose remain unresolved and are tied to wider talks on a comprehensive peace agreement. The European rejection and the unanimity requirement mean that any movement on the frozen assets depends on agreement among governments that have so far opposed the core elements of the US proposal. The Kremlin has already signalled that it intends to pursue recovery of the assets through legal means.
