European Commission advances efforts to redirect frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine

The European Commission is ready to provide proposals on how to use Russia's frozen assets in the interests of Ukraine, a representative of commission, Christian Wiegand, has said.

"We stand ready to present a legal proposal taking into account the discussions with the member states," Wiegand said, news agency Ukrinform reported on Aug. 30

He said that this issue had been discussed by EU leaders at the last European Council meeting in late June.

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"We’re working with the Spanish presidency (of the European Union) on exploring a step-wise approach and we are supporting discussions. We also sent a paper in that regard to the Spanish presidency at the end of July," Wiegand added.

He noted that the European Commission is ready to submit a "detailed proposal, taking into account discussions with member states."

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Intensive work is also underway with the EU’s partners in the G7. According to Wiegand, it is "very important for EC to coordinate this internationally."

Earlier, the media reported that the EU cannot legally confiscate completely frozen Russian assets and is instead focusing on obtaining the temporary use of them.

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