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| France and Germany are concerned about the risks of confiscating frozen Russian assets. Illustrative photo. (Source: CNBC) |
The discussion took place on the sidelines of a meeting of donors from the Group of 20 (G20) leading developed and emerging economies .
Accordingly, France, Germany and the ECB are expressing legitimate concerns – both due to possible Russian retaliation and the risks to the euro.
In addition, Berlin and Paris are concerned that the move will affect the stability of the entire global financial system. They believe that the confiscation of money will set a dangerous precedent that encourages other countries to avoid storing assets in Western countries.
* Reuters news agency reported that on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' meeting, the views of the countries of the Group of Seven (G7) on the issue of handling Moscow's frozen assets showed that there are still many disagreements that need to be resolved.
The US has floated the idea of outright seizure of frozen Russian assets, but European officials say that would be legally risky.
On February 27, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters that there were "strong international legal, economic and moral reasons" for seizing the value of Moscow's assets.
“The G7 should work together to explore a number of approaches: seizing (Russian) assets ourselves, using them as collateral to borrow from global markets,” she stressed.
However, a day later (February 28), French Minister of Finance and Economy Bruno Le Maire spoke out against the US's position and said that there was not enough international legal basis to carry out such actions.
"Such moves need to be reinforced by international law and must be accepted by all members of the G20. We should not increase any division among the G20 countries," he said.
Meanwhile, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland shares the US's view and agrees on the urgent need to move forward with seizing frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.
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