EU 'finalizes' use of Russian assets; officially approves 14th sanctions package, 116 more individuals and organizations 'named'

On June 24, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib announced that European Union (EU) member states have reached a final agreement on the use of income from frozen Russian assets.

EU reaches agreement to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine. (Source: Newsweek)

Speaking ahead of the EU Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Luxembourg, Ms Lahbib shared: "Regarding the frozen assets of Russia, the agreement has been reached, we agreed on full security guarantees for this process to release income from frozen assets of Russia."

Sharing the same view with the Belgian Foreign Minister, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that he proposed to avoid any member state blocking the use of proceeds from Moscow's frozen financial fund to support Kiev.

The West has frozen nearly $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank, after Moscow launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

The move was denounced by Moscow as "theft".

About $280 billion of this money is held in the EU, mainly at Belgium-based depository and clearing house Euroclear.

Earlier this June, the Group of Seven (G7) announced that it had reached an agreement to use profits from frozen Russian assets to finance a $50 billion loan to help Ukraine buy weapons and rebuild damaged infrastructure.

* Also on June 24, the European Council confirmed its approval of the 14th package of sanctions against Russia.

“Today, the Council adopted the 14th package of economic and personal restrictive measures, dealing a further blow to the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” the European Council said in a statement.

The new sanctions package expands restrictions to 116 individuals and entities, according to the statement.

“To ensure that EU facilities are not used to transport Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third countries, thereby significantly reducing Russia’s revenues from LNG sales and transportation, the EU prohibits Moscow’s LNG transshipment services on the territory of EU countries for the purpose of carrying out transit operations to third countries,” the statement said.

The EU also banned companies from using the System for the Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), an alternative to the global payments system SWIFT.

In addition, the 27-member bloc also imposed sanctions on Russia's "dark fleet", "specific vessels contributing to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine".

Sanctions package targets 27 ships and expands restrictions on helium imports from Russia...

In addition, the European Council is required to take measures to ensure that third-country subsidiaries do not violate European sanctions or “engage in any activity that leads to the results that the sanctions are intended to prevent”.

The statement concluded: "The Council added 61 entities to the list of those directly supporting the Russian military-industrial complex in its special military operation in Ukraine.

These entities will be subject to tighter export restrictions related to dual-use goods and technologies, as well as goods and technologies that can contribute to the technological advancement of Russia's defense and security sector."

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/eu-chot-ha-su-dung-tai-san-nga-chinh-thuc-thong-qua-goi-trung-phat-thu-14-them-116-ca-nhan-va-to-chuc-bi-goi-ten-276135.html