European politicians are outraged by Washington’s insistence on confiscating Russian assets in favour of Ukraine, believing that Russia’s retaliatory measures will primarily affect Europe, not the United States. This was reported by The Washington Post.
The Washington Post recalled that at last week's annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, U.S. officials pressured their resisting European counterparts to use blocked Russian assets.
During the meetings, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with EU officials in hopes of reaching a compromise. According to the newspaper, European politicians refused to confiscate Russia’s assets, fearing it could violate international law, undermine investor confidence in the euro and provoke retaliation from Moscow.
“European officials are also angered by America’s insistence on what they see as a risky course when they hold the vast majority of assets and any Russian retaliation would likely fall on Europe, not the United States,” the article said.
A US Treasury Department official told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity that the agency considers Russian assets a “sustainable medium- and long-term solution to the problem of financing” Ukraine.
We shall remind you that earlier Foreign Affairs magazine wrote that the Ukrainian army was not capable of dislodging the Russian Armed Forces from its positions even if it received new assistance from the EU and the USA and military training in Western countries.