Miliband and Sikorski call for further talks on frozen Russian assets

British and Polish foreign ministers Ed Miliband and Radosław Sikorski called for further discussion of frozen Russian assets. Miliband said Britain was ready to work with the European Union on the issue.

The ministers spoke at the Warsaw Security Forum on October 13, TVP World reported. Miliband said Europe faced major decisions over Russian sovereign assets and linked cooperation with the EU to sending appropriate signals to Moscow.

Sikorski acknowledged that using the assets was complicated. He nevertheless rejected the possibility of returning the frozen funds to Russia. His comments express the Polish minister’s position, rather than an EU decision to confiscate the assets.

The discussions concern funds immobilised after fighting began in Ukraine in 2022. Profits generated by frozen assets are already used to support Ukraine. The ministers’ remarks did not set out an agreed new mechanism for using the sovereign funds themselves or a date for its launch.