According to the publication, EU officials approached the ECB, based in Frankfurt, requesting it to act as a lender for the Belgian depository Euroclear, using part of the Russian assets as collateral. However, the bank reportedly concluded that this proposal violates its mandate. No official denial or confirmation of this information has been received so far.
Since February 2022, the assets of the Central Bank of Russia, totaling about 260 billion euros, have remained blocked in Western countries. Of these, approximately 193 billion euros are held in Euroclear accounts in Belgium. Discussions about the possibility of using some of these funds to assist Ukraine have been ongoing among European countries for almost four years.
