The plans to use money withdrawn from bonds belonging to Russia’s central bank – for example to finance aid to Ukraine – would send a “bad signal to the international market”, according to the sources.
Should the money from Russian assets be used, the ECB’s experts fear that it could cause other central banks to purge euro assets from their reserves, not least if the EU on its own – without an agreement among the G7 countries – should choose to take that step.
The consequences could be significant, pushing up financing costs for EU countries and damaging trade relations, according to a document seen by the newspaper outlining the ECB’s views.
A spokesperson for the ECB does not want to comment on the newspaper’s information.