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Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel: “These are small amounts that are being kept here with us.”
Photo: Carla Carniel / REUTERS
The Deutsche Bundesbank does not have any significant Russian assets: "The Bundesbank does not have any significant Russian assets," said Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel at a press conference with Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner at the G20 meeting in São Paulo, Brazil.
“These are small amounts that are kept here with us,” he said.
This involves assets in the “small double-digit million range”.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has argued that the EU should use profits from frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.
This is a sum of around 264 billion euros.
"It is time to start a conversation about using the windfalls from frozen Russian assets to jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.
"There could be no stronger symbol and no better use for this money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live."
She received support at the G20 meeting in Brazil from Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and France's department head Bruno Le Maire.
At the end of January, the EU countries had already agreed to set aside interest profits from the frozen Russian assets for Ukraine.
The exact intended use, however, still needs to be clarified.
Among other things, there was discussion about using the money to rebuild the infrastructure in Ukraine that was badly damaged by Russia.
Meanwhile, Lindner spoke out in favor of partial use of the frozen Russian assets for Ukraine.
According to the Finance Minister's estimate, this could amount to a single-digit billion amount.
eru/Reuters/AFP