Russia Pushes for Unfreezing of $6 Billion in Assets in US Talks

Russia is pushing for the unfreezing of $6 billion in state assets held in the United States, the Moscow Times reported, citing a source familiar with the course of the meeting in Riyadh, where high-ranking representatives of the Kremlin and the White House held lengthy talks on Tuesday, Feb. 18, for the first time since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion almost three years ago.

These assets, which belong to Russia’s Central Bank, were frozen as part of sanctions stemming from its Ukraine invasion and are mainly investments in American assets.

This is part of Russia’s broader goal to recover a significant portion of its $300 billion in frozen foreign reserves, with the majority of that money being held in Europe.

These properties, including dachas (summer homes) in New York and Maryland, were seized by the US government in 2016 under President Barack Obama. US officials accused Russian diplomats of using these properties for spying.

“For Russian President Vladimir Putin, these issues are not just symbolic. He views them as a way to restore Russia’s status and strengthen relations with the United States,” the source told the Moscow Times.

As of now, following 4.5 hours of negotiations in Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States agreed to restore embassy staff, whose work has been severely impacted by the mass expulsion of diplomats.

Since 2000, the United States has declared 225 Russian diplomatic mission employees persona non grata. As of August 2022, only 184 diplomats remained at the Russian Embassy in Washington.

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Meanwhile, 755 employees of American diplomatic missions, including consulates, were expelled from Russia. Before the outbreak of war, the embassy staff in Moscow had shrunk to 120 employees – the lowest number in five years, according to TASS.

However, the key issue in the negotiations – the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Donald Trump – remained unresolved.

Although the American side proposed holding a summit in February, this is “unlikely” to happen, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said after the meeting.