European Union member states have considered three proposals to adjust the bloc's sanctions regime to assuage American concerns and unblock a plan to provide Ukraine with $50 billion in aid backed by profits from frozen Russian central bank assets, UNN reports citing Bloomberg.
EU sanctions that keep Russian assets immobilized must be renewed by unanimous vote every six months. The U.S. has requested guarantees that the assets will remain frozen as their profits are used to repay the bailout package.
One of the options proposed by the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, on Friday was to extend the extension of the asset freeze to 36 months, according to people familiar with the talks.
Another proposal would have extended the extension by five years, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The final proposal would have extended both the sectoral sanctions and the central bank's asset freeze for 36 months.
The EU, the US and other Group of Seven allies have been working to provide Ukraine with loans by the end of the year. The package is crucial for Kiev to continue receiving $15.6 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund for the war-torn country, the newspaper said.
Ukraine passed an IMF staff review on Tuesday to unblock $1.1 billion in aid. This came after the Fund received assurances from the USA and the EU that the frozen assets would be made available, according to officials familiar with the talks.
Most of the EU ambassadors at the meeting were open to the options proposed by the commission, with extending the period of the sanctions extension covering assets to 36 months seen as the most feasible, the people said.
The publication adds that Hungary, which has delayed the process of extending sanctions in the past and is considered the friendliest EU country to Russia, has not taken a position as it holds the bloc's presidency, according to the people.
The Commission could provide more details on how to change the sanctions regime as early as Monday as member states want to see more information.
EU leaders tried to reassure U.S. officials in a joint statement after their June summit, saying that "russian assets should remain immobilized until russia stops its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by this war. European officials also pointed to the fact that sanctions against russia have been in place since 2014.
Under the agreement reached at the G-7 summit, the EU and the U.S. will provide loans of about $20 billion each, according to officials familiar with the agreement. Britain, Canada and Japan will provide smaller loans.
The EU's main goal is to get the U.S. involved in the aid package, but some EU officials are considering the idea of moving forward without the Americans, summarizes Bloomberg.