France, Germany, and the European Central Bank became the main opponents of the confiscation of frozen Russian assets

They are concerned about retaliatory measures from the Kremlin regarding European assets in Russia, influencing financial stability, and the status of the euro as a reserve currency, Bloomberg reports, citing sources.

Leading EU countries believe that such a move would set a precedent, compelling other countries to avoid storing their reserves in Western currencies in case they are subjected to similar penalties in the future. “We currently do not have the legal basis for seizing Russian assets. We need to work more on this,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire after a meeting of G7 finance ministers in San Paulo on Wednesday.

Recall that some countries propose simply confiscating assets or using them as collateral to borrow money and transfer it to Ukraine. At the same time, the United States, which talks the most about the need to confiscate assets, itself acknowledges that it cannot do so because Biden currently lacks the authority to do so.