EU Preparing Legal Grounds For Seizing Russian Assets - Von Der Leyen

The European Commission is laying the legal groundwork to confiscate Russian assets and use them to rebuild Ukraine, among other things, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.

"Our aim is not only to freeze but to seize Russian assets," she told reporters at the International Expert Conference on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Modernization of Ukraine.

The European Commission chief told reporters in Berlin that "legally it is not trivial, there is a lot of work still in it." She said the commission insisted on making the asset capture a "legally sound" process.

Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last week that possible confiscation of Russian assets abroad would be yet another violation of the international law and promised that Russia would push back.