The administration of US President Joe Biden has made a final attempt to confiscate $300 of Russian sovereign assets frozen abroad.. This step was made a week before the inauguration of the next head of the White House, Republican Donald Trump..

As informed sources told CNN, Biden's advisers are trying to convince European partners to transfer $300 billion of the Russian Central Bank, immobilized in EU banks, to a new escrow account. They want to unblock them only within the framework of an agreement on a peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine.

The majority of this money is still held in European banks, although a small portion remains in US banks. The US negotiator explained that this gesture should send a message to the Kremlin: “If you want this money back, you will have to come to the negotiating table.”.

Moreover, the Biden team held a number of consultations with representatives of the next administration, including with Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mike Walz, whom Trump offered the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, respectively..

The White House emphasized that they want to convey to the next administration the strongest possible position on the situation in Ukraine, and the Trump team generally supported such an initiative.

But the European side was not delighted with such a proposal and expressed concern about a violation of international law if banks simply confiscated Russian assets. In the United States, it is assumed that the leader of the German Christian Democratic Union party, Friedrich Merz, who has a great chance of becoming the next chancellor, is open to the idea of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bcontinuing this strategy.