U.S. offers returning Russia's assets frozen by West - report

The U.S. administration has opposed the European Union’s initiative to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine via a reparations loan, Politico reported, citing senior European diplomats.

During the summer, when the EU’s sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan visited Washington, U.S. officials "told him in no uncertain terms that their plan was to return the assets to Russia after the signing of any peace plan".

U.S. President Donald Trump’s original peace plan for Ukraine included investing $100 billion of immobilized Russian assets in U.S.-led efforts to rebuild Ukraine, with the remainder going toward a "separate U.S.-Russian vehicle".

Belgium blocked the European Commission’s plan to seize Russian assets under the guise of providing a reparations loan to Ukraine at the EU summit on October 23, fearing that Russia might take retaliatory measures and demanding EU countries provide legal guarantees against future financial losses.

The decision was postponed until the EU summit set for December, while the European Commission was instructed to work out various loan options.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said they plan to table legal proposals this week.