Arya News - France has refused to reveal the whereabouts of €18bn in frozen Russian assets in discussions over the European Union’s future funding for Ukraine.
France has refused to reveal the whereabouts of €18bn in frozen Russian assets in discussions over the European Union’s future funding for Ukraine .
The majority of the cash is being held by commercial banks, which Paris has argued should be protected from the €140bn “reparations loan” for Kyiv .
Despite publicly backing a scheme which envisages using frozen Russian assets in Europe to guarantee a loan to Kyiv, France has emerged as a potential blocker by refusing to allow private, commercial banks from being plundered to aid Ukraine, according to reporting by The Financial Times.
EU member states are caught up in fractious talks over the plan to provide Ukraine with much-needed funds for the next two years.
The scheme aims to use some of the €210bn in Russian assets frozen in banks and clearing houses across the continent to guarantee the loan to Kyiv.
Under the plan, Ukraine would either pay the loan back using reparations paid by Russia, or the EU would seize the cash itself.
Sir Keir Starmer hosted European leaders in London on Monday as EU member states discuss the plan to provide Ukraine with much-needed funds - TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock
Belgium, where €185bn of those frozen assets is held in the Euroclear securities house, has opposed the plan because of fears it could be left on the hook for the funds should Russia mount an international legal challenge.
Insiders say there are numerous questions over the emergency powers that the European Commission has proposed using to seize the Russian cash.
French banks are understood to hold some €18bn in frozen Russian assets, the second largest amount behind Belgium in Europe.
French officials involved in the Brussels talks cited confidentiality rules while refusing to disclose to EU colleagues where the money is being held.
“This is market-sensitive information – it’s the same as if doctors would be publicly discussing medical records,” a European Commission spokesman told the FT.
It is unclear which French banks hold what cash, but BNP Paribas, the country’s biggest lender, is understood to be in control of the bulk of the assets.
The revelations will likely trigger criticism of Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, who has tried to position himself as Europe’s most front-footed leader in support for Ukraine.
He will be forced to defend the decision not to disclose the whereabouts of the cash when he comes face to face with EU colleagues at a leadership summit in Brussels later this month.
The gathering is billed as the deadline for the bloc to secure a deal over future funds for Ukraine.
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