Spain backs ‘creative’ use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine – while vowing to reduce gas imports
SPAIN has thrown its weight behind plans to find innovative ways of using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s reconstruction through ‘reparation loans’.
Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo announced Madrid’s support for the initiative on Friday as he arrived at the EU finance ministers meeting in Copenhagen, backing what he called a ‘creative solution’ that maintains legal certainty.
“We need to be creative and I believe that’s what the Commission is doing – putting a creative solution on the table that at the same time covers legal certainty,” Cuerpo told reporters.
READ MORE: Spain boosts international profile by hosting crunch trade talks between China and US in Madrid
“That’s the path forward and from the Spanish perspective, we’re going to support it.”
The move follows discussions by G7 leaders last Friday about possible economic measures to increase pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine, including exploring secondary tariffs and making greater use of immobilised Russian assets.
Russia maintains around €200 billion worth of funds in Belgium’s Euroclear depository, which were immediately frozen when Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade Ukraine.
These assets could potentially be redirected to support reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had already signalled her intention to advance this route in her state of the union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where she specified that ‘Ukraine would only repay the loan once Russia pays reparations.’
However, the plan has met resistance within Europe.
While the United States is pressuring the EU to use Russian assets to finance Ukrainian defence, countries including Germany, Belgium and France have blocked the move, citing doubts about the legality of such measures.
Cuerpo emphasised that Spain’s position has been consistent from the start.
“We have said we need to make every possible effort to find ways to improve and increase financing for Ukraine, and this also involves making a creative analysis of how to advance in using these immobilised assets, always within a framework that guarantees legal security.”
The Economy Minister indicated that no concrete proposal from Brussels is expected until the next EU meeting on October 9-10 in Luxembourg.
“We’ll analyse the specific proposal but in principle it seems like a very good idea to us,” he added.
Spain’s support comes as the country, one of the EU’s few importers of Russian liquefied natural gas, continues working to reduce those imports and diversify its energy supplies with alternatives from countries including the United States.
Click here to read more Spain News from The Olive Press.
