PACE Proposes Transferring Frozen Russian Assets to Ukraine as Reparations

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted Tuesday to adopt a resolution calling for European governments to directly transfer frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine as reparations for the destruction caused by Russia's war.

The resolution, passed with a strong majority, argues that the approximately $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets held in European financial institutions should be used directly for Ukrainian reconstruction and compensation for war victims, rather than only the interest generated by those assets.

Current EU policy, implemented through the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) mechanism, transfers approximately $50 billion to Ukraine as a loan backed by interest from frozen assets. The PACE proposal goes further, calling for the principal itself to be used.

The resolution does not have binding legal force but signals increasing political will among European legislators to take a stronger stance on the use of Russian assets.

Russia has condemned all such proposals, warning of legal challenges and retaliatory measures against European assets.