The European Union is creating a working group to examine whether frozen Russian assets can be used to rebuild Ukraine.
The group will carry out a “legal, financial, economic and political analysis” to assess that possibility, the Swedish government said in a statement on Tuesday.
Sweden currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, which sets the bloc’s political priorities.
The statement added that part of that work would involve getting a “clearer picture” of where Russian state assets and their value are located.
“In principle, it is clear: Russia must pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
“At the same time, it poses difficult questions. This must be done in accordance with EU and international law, and there is currently no direct model for this,” she added.
Diplomats from EU countries will meet on Wednesday to establish the group’s assignments.
Once that is decided, they will give the go-ahead to start their work. The group will be chaired by Anders Ahnlid, director general of the National Board of Trade of Sweden.
Questions about how to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction mount as the first anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches.
Ukraine’s economy shrank by more than 30% in 2022 as war destroyed infrastructure, crippled businesses and disrupted everyday life.
The cost of rebuilding and recovering the country was estimated at around $349 billion in a September assessment by the World Bank, the European Commission and the government of Ukraine. But the continued struggle will have raised the price ever since.
A senior EU official estimated earlier this month that the economic bloc and Western allies had frozen more than $300 billion in Russian central bank assets that could be used to rebuild Ukraine.
The European Union is also working on a tenth package of sanctions against Russia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the bloc would target 11 billion euros ($11.8 billion) of goods, using trade bans and technology export controls.
“We are undermining Russia’s ability to keep its war machinery in place,” von der Leyen said in comments to the European Parliament.
“We adopted nine sanctions packages. The Russian economy is shrinking. We need to keep up the pressure.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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