Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys says the European Union should seize frozen Russian assets without further discussions and use them to support Ukraine, since providing funding from national budgets is becoming more difficult.
“That’s the issue we have been stuck on for too long. We have to break this deadlock and move forward,” he told reporters in Copenhagen on Saturday as he arrived for an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Budrys said frozen Russian assets must be put to use immediately, as it is becoming harder for the EU to keep generating support for Ukraine from national budgets.
“This is a resource lying at our feet,” he said.
On Saturday, the minister was to present to his counterparts in Copenhagen a proposal to use the Russian central bank’s frozen funds as a loan to Ukraine or transfer them into a special EU fund.
Budrys said he understands the legal and political risks involved in using the frozen assets.
“No one is ignoring them, but risks have to be managed, not avoided,” the Lithuanian minister said.
“If we fail to do so, the price we’ll have to pay to support Ukraine without using these assets will be much higher,” he added.
The European Union has frozen about 210 billion euros in Russian central bank assets.
Budrys also reiterated Lithuania’s proposals to step up sanctions against Russia by targeting the country’s key oil and gas companies and lowering the price cap on oil products.
He also said that the EU must move forward with Ukraine’s membership talks and, if Hungary blocks them, find ways to continue discussions with the agreement of the other member states.
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