There is money, a lot of money, frozen in western accounts. What if this money can enter the equation?
Ukraine gets in the NATO is out of the question. A return to the 2014 Ukrainian borders is unthinkable. Ukraine has to give up much of its wealth in ores. All of this are some of the demands or points that the United States has already put on the table to an end of the, sacrificing various Ukrainian positions, some of them crucial to the president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
In parallel no Russian concessions are not known or even a claim that this can happen. Now, according to the agency, there is one thing Russia admits to include in peace negotiations: the use of part of the 285 billion euros in frozen goods for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
It is not yet known how much this process may cost, but the World Bank has revealed for days that the reconstruction of infrastructure, hospitals, schools and more can be around 450 billion euros.
Russia now admits that part of the money comes from the value that has been frozen in European banks since the beginning of the war, and this slice also has to include about 20% of territory currently occupied by Moscow forces.
As soon as Vladimir Putin ordered what he continues to call “Special Military Operation,” the United States and the European Union banned all transactions with the Russian Central Bank and the Russian Ministry of Finance, which blocked 285 to 335 billion dollars in goods.
Although peace negotiations are still in an embryonic phase, and Donald Trump chose to exclude Ukraine from a first phase, which originated a strong dispute with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia is already discussing what may be concerned, There is in Moscow the idea that frozen goods can be one of the points.
This will be one of the first concessions that are known on the Russian side, while the minimum requirements of Vladimir Putin are long known: the departure of the Ukrainian troops from the territory that Russia complains (about 20% of Ukraine) and the end of ambitions of Kiev to join the NATO.
Ukraine, for its part, wants Russia to withdraw from its territory, which includes even Crimea, an attached and busy peninsula since 2014, as well as Western guarantees for lasting security. Assuming a stance that has not pleased Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump has already classified these unrealistic goals.
This idea of using frozen goods can meet what G7 intends. The seven largest economies had already mentioned that Russian funds will remain frozen until Russia pays for the damage inflicted to Ukraine.
Officially, Russian Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said that her institution is not aware of any talks, and Russia has even referred to the use of this money as a “robbery.”
