{"id":11412,"date":"2025-12-19T09:29:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/?p=11412"},"modified":"2025-12-22T18:41:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T18:41:54","slug":"eu-will-have-to-give-back-russian-assets-putin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/eu-will-have-to-give-back-russian-assets-putin-2\/","title":{"rendered":"EU \u2018will have to give back\u2019 Russian assets \u2013 Putin"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Russian president has warned the bloc that any attempts to tap the country\u2019s sovereign funds will backfire<\/strong><\/p>\n The EU will eventually have to return Russia’s sovereign assets frozen under Ukraine-related sanctions, President Vladimir Putin has said. He warned the bloc against tapping the funds, saying the move would cause reputational damage and risk undermining the foundations of the modern financial system.<\/p>\n Kiev’s Western backers froze about $300 billion in Russian central bank assets after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The majority of the funds are held at Belgium-based depository Euroclear. The EU has been debating using the funds as collateral for a so-called “reparations loan”<\/em> for Kiev and last week approved legislation to replace the current freeze with a long-term measure that would keep the assets blocked indefinitely.<\/p>\n However, on Friday, EU leaders failed to approve the loan plan, opting instead to raise common debt to fund Kiev in the short term while agreeing to revisit the scheme once its “technical aspects”<\/em> are resolved.<\/p>\n During an end-of-year live Q&A session and press conference on Friday, Putin reiterated that any use of Russia’s funds would amount to theft and warned of the consequences for the EU and the broader financial system.<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n “It would be robbery… Besides reputational losses, there could be direct losses affecting the foundations of the modern financial world order,”<\/em> Putin stated. “And most importantly: whatever they steal and however they do it, they will have to pay it back someday.”<\/em><\/p>\n Putin said that using Russian assets as collateral for a loan to Kiev would increase EU countries’ liabilities, adding pressure to budgets that are already strained, since any loan disbursement must be reflected in the issuing country’s budget.<\/p>\n “What does issuing a loan actually mean? It affects the budget of every country involved because it increases public debt, even when loans are backed by collateral,”<\/em> he stated, noting that France’s national debt, for instance, already stands at 120% of GDP, with a budget deficit of 6%, making any additional strain potentially damaging.<\/p>\n