US informed Europe of its desire to use Russian assets as part of Ukraine settlement

The United States has notified European countries that it would like to use frozen Russian assets as part of a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, The Washington Post newspaper noted, citing sources, Report informs.

"The Europeans had received clear signals that the US administration wants to use the assets in a settlement, raising the specter of a clash with Europe's leaders," the newspaper notes. According to the publication, after Washington proposed its 28-point plan for settling the Ukrainian crisis in November, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and other European leaders "have faced pressure from US officials."

In late November, Bloomberg noted, citing European officials, that a clause on allocating about $100 billion in frozen Russian assets to the Ukraine Recovery Fund has been removed from the latest version of the US peace plan. The original proposal stipulated that the US would receive 50% of the profits from these assets, with unused frozen funds to be directed to a Russian-American investment fund.