US reportedly proposed unfreezing some Russian assets under US-run vehicle; Europeans refused

Mixed · 2The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing four people briefed on the matter, that the US had proposed European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets and transfer them to a financial vehicle overseen by Washington, to revive peace negotiations over Ukraine. 1 2 Mixed · 2The proposal was reportedly made by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, at talks in Miami (Meduza dates them to 9 October) with representatives of Ukraine, France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO. 1 2 Mixed · 2The assets' fate was discussed as part of a comprehensive peace agreement, and the US set out several options, including a new special-purpose vehicle under US oversight. 1 2

Left · 1European delegates rejected the plan; according to Meduza's summary of the FT, they said they opposed handing control of the assets to anyone and ruled out returning any portion to Moscow. 2 Centre · 1The initiative reportedly surprised European capitals and Kyiv and raised questions about Washington's approach to pressuring Moscow. 1 Centre · 1A US official told the FT that use of frozen assets had been discussed as part of a comprehensive peace deal, but that the mechanisms for releasing the funds and deciding how to spend them remained under consideration. Ukrainian officials said the issue had come up in earlier meetings with US counterparts. 1

Right · 1German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Brussels on 15 October, ahead of an EU summit, that the assets "are frozen in Europe and they should remain frozen in Europe. This is our business and we are deciding over it" (Reuters, carried by the Straits Times). 3 Right · 1Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had no information on the reported proposal and did not know how reliable the reports were; Reuters said it could not immediately verify the FT report. 3 Left · 1Meduza added a New York Times report that the US had offered Russia three economic incentives for a partial ceasefire, including unfreezing billions of dollars in assets, which Washington saw as an advance incentive rather than a reward. 2

Mixed · 2Western countries froze about €260 billion ($302 billion) of Russian sovereign assets in 2022, most held in the EU; Meduza says about €193 billion sits at Belgium's Euroclear, whose income funds a loan of up to €50 billion to Ukraine, and that the EU approved an indefinite freeze in December 2025. 1 2 Right · 1Reuters gives different totals: the EU immobilised about €210 billion of Russian central bank assets, about €185 billion of it at Euroclear, and some European nations want the assets disbursed on behalf of Ukraine. 3