# Trump envoys ask Europe to transfer frozen Russian assets to U.S. fund, but EU officials refuse

*Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 6:07 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-10-15T06:07:18.980Z (4h ago)
**Category**: geopolitics | **Region**: Europe
**Importance**: 9/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/20589.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner proposed in Miami that Europe unfreeze part of Russia’s frozen sovereign assets and move the money into a Washington‑controlled fund to help revive Ukraine peace talks, but European officials rejected the idea.

Who controls Russia’s frozen reserves is now a major point of friction between Washington and key European capitals.

According to reporting based on multiple accounts of talks in Miami last week, U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner asked European officials to unfreeze part of Russia’s sovereign assets and transfer them into a fund run from Washington. They argued that putting some of the immobilized money under U.S. control could help restart peace talks on Ukraine by turning those assets into a negotiating tool.

The proposal was presented to officials from Ukraine, France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO, according to the Financial Times and other summaries of the meeting. European delegates pushed back. They opposed ceding control of Russian state assets held under their own legal systems and resisted any approach that could be seen as returning funds to Moscow.

Around €260 billion in Russian sovereign assets remain frozen, most of them in European financial institutions. For Kyiv and its supporters, these holdings are central to plans for eventual reconstruction and a way to maintain pressure on Moscow without direct military escalation.

European governments have so far leaned toward using interest generated by the frozen assets rather than outright seizure of the principal, citing legal and financial‑stability concerns. The U.S. idea would move part of the pot into a Washington‑controlled structure and give the United States a more direct role in any eventual financial settlement.

The split over the Miami proposal shows how the economic front of the war is shifting from imposing sanctions to deciding who will hold the strongest financial levers in any future negotiations with Russia.

Signals to watch now include formal EU discussions on how to use proceeds from Russian assets, any fresh U.S. moves on managing or seizing those funds, and whether any major European capital starts to soften its stance on transferring control to Washington or on wider confiscation.