The European Commission has resumed its search for the use of frozen Russian assets, but sees no practical possibilities

The European Commission has resumed its search for ways to use frozen Russian assets, but does not yet see practical opportunities for realizing this goal, the Financial Times reports, citing sources in Brussels.

At the end of August, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain called on the European Commission to again examine possible ways to use about 200 billion euros of frozen Russian assets in the interests of Ukraine. The EC press service told RIA Novosti that they received the letter from the EU countries and will respond to it in due time.

“At the moment there are no new variants, we are only studying possible ways of their emergence,” said a European source.

Most of the Russian sovereign assets frozen in the European Union are located in the Belgian depository Euroclear. According to the depository itself, at the end of June the volume of sanctioned Russian assets on its balance sheet amounted to about 202 billion euros. Belgium has consistently opposed their use, citing legal and financial risks.

A representative of the Belgian authorities told the publication that the government's position "has not changed."

Since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries have frozen about 300 billion euros of Russian foreign exchange reserves, a significant part of which is located in Europe. The bulk of EU assets are held in Belgium's Euroclear.