EU accelerates plan for seizure of Russian assets - report

The European Commission has sped up the development of a legal framework to seize frozen Russian assets within the EU, according to media reports citing sources.

The European Commission is now working more actively on the relevant proposals and is preparing a legal justification for the confiscation, which it plans to publish in the coming days.

As reported by Reuters and Bloomberg, the EU member states want to finalize this document quickly because a similar proposal for using Russian assets has been included in the U.S. peace plan for Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc is readying a legal proposal that could include using immobilized Russian assets.

"I cannot see any scenario in which the European taxpayers alone will pay the bill," von der Leyen said.