EU must follow law in using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, ECB President Christine Lagarde says

Any European Union decision on using frozen Russian state assets to help Ukraine must follow international law and the European Central Bank is "very attentive" to the process, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Monday.

The EU is searching for a way to finance Ukraine's defence and reconstruction with some of the 210 billion euros worth of Russian sovereign assets immobilised in the West after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

As outright confiscation would be illegal, the bloc's political leadership is working on a plan to invest the Russian cash in zero-coupon bonds issued by the European Commission with guarantees from EU governments.

The EU would then use the cash to issue a "Reparations Loan" to Ukraine.

"We very much expect that any scheme that is discussed and eventually introduced at some point in time will be done in accordance with international rules, with international law," Lagarde told European lawmakers in Strasbourg.

Lagarde is worried that a legally contentious move would damage the credibility of the euro and discourage investors from holding euro assets, potentially damaging financial stability.

"From my vantage point, and with in mind financial stability and the strength of the euro, we will be looking very attentively to make sure that what is proposed is in accordance with international law (and) is mindful of financial stability," Lagarde said in a parliamentary hearing.

When the Russian assets were frozen at the outset of the war, the money was invested in bonds. Those bonds have now matured and the cash is stuck at the Euroclear central securities depository in Belgium.

Lagarde said any decision should be agreed by all the parties that hold Russian assets.