The United States has presented European countries with proposals for Russia's return to the global economy and the restoration of Russian energy supplies to Western Europe as part of a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing two sources.
According to the publication, in recent weeks the administration of US President Donald Trump has presented its “European colleagues“ with a series of documents outlining its vision for the post-war “reconstruction of Ukraine and Russia's return to the global economy“. One document describes a US plan for Russia's reintegration, suggesting that American companies would "invest in strategic sectors, from rare earth metals to Arctic oil drilling".
Washington presented Europe with "plans for US financial companies to use approximately $200 billion in frozen Russian assets to implement projects in Ukraine". According to The Wall Street Journal, these assets are proposed for use "for a large-scale new data center" powered by the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Earlier, the European Commission announced its plan to expropriate all frozen Russian assets in Europe worth 210 billion euros under a "reparation loan" scheme to provide financing for Ukraine in 2026-2027. It also called on Western countries outside the EU to join the initiative. On December 9, European Council President Antonio Costa said that Brussels had almost secured a qualified majority of EU member states to approve the expropriation of Russian assets at the December 18 summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier noted that the confiscation of Russian assets, which is being discussed in Europe, would be an act of theft. As Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told TASS, the country's leadership has already been presented with options for responding to the possible seizure of Russian assets by Western countries. Russian President Dmitry Peskov's press secretary stressed that Moscow would not leave such actions unanswered.