US proposed to unfreeze part of Russia's assets for negotiations
However, European countries rejected the White House's proposal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (center) and Jared Kushner (left) during a joint press conference in Kyiv, September 6, 2026. Photo: AP Photo / Francisco Seco
The administration of US President Donald Trump proposed lifting restrictions on a portion of Russia's state assets, frozen after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in an attempt to restart stalled peace negotiations. However, European countries rejected the White House's proposal. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.
According to FT sources, this plan was proposed by US Presidential Special Representative Stephen Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner during a recent meeting with the Ukrainian side and representatives of European countries in Miami.
It envisioned transferring part of the frozen Russian assets to a special financial structure that would be under Washington's control.
European representatives at the Miami meeting opposed transferring control over the assets to the US or returning any part of the frozen funds to Russia, the newspaper's sources said. According to them, Witkoff's and Kushner's proposal caused concern among Ukrainian officials and European diplomats about Washington's attempts to pressure Russia.
In February 2022, Western governments froze Russian state assets worth 260 billion euros. Most of these funds are located in the European Union, recalls Deutsche Welle.
The EU has not yet transferred these funds to Ukraine and uses the income derived from them for financial support to Kyiv. In particular, Ukraine received a 45 billion euro loan from G7 countries, secured by interest income from frozen assets.
Leaders of EU member states have pledged to use these assets to finance Ukraine's reconstruction if Russia does not pay reparations after the end of the war.
As FT sources emphasized, unfreezing Russian assets would also require unanimous consent from all EU member states. This would complicate the advancement and implementation of Witkoff's and Kushner's initiative.