France blocks €18 billion of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine: what is behind the decision

France blocks the use of Russian assets to finance Ukraine

According to ХВИЛЯ: France has decided to block the use of frozen Russian assets worth €18 billion to finance Ukraine, despite formal support for the idea of providing reparative loans. This decision is driven by the necessity to comply with the legal and contractual obligations of the country's financial institutions.

The amount of frozen assets held in French financial institutions totals €18 billion. Overall, the lion's share of assets frozen in EU countries exceeds €190 billion. These assets are kept in the Belgian depository Euroclear, which also complicates their use.

Signals from government circles

An anonymous source in French government circles said:

We cannot ignore the legal and contractual obligations of our financial institutions.

This step serves as an important signal regarding how EU countries approach the issue of using assets frozen due to the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time, a European diplomat emphasized that this lack of transparency undermines the unity of the European Union on a critically important issue.

Thus, the blocking of assets in France could have serious consequences for financing Ukraine's recovery, given the significant volume of frozen funds at the EU level. This situation reflects the complexity of the international legal landscape in which EU countries find themselves, as they try to strike a balance between supporting Ukraine and adhering to legal norms. Amid the ongoing war, the question of using frozen assets will remain at the forefront as countries seek ways to effectively finance Ukraine's recovery and maintain the unity of the European Union.