Ukraine LIVE: 'Time to act' Erdogan rages at Putin over Black Sea betrayal – tensions soar

The European Union has so far frozen 13.8 billion euros ($13.83 billion) worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the bloc’s top justice official said.

The official said the vast majority of that comes from five of the EU’s 27 member states only, calling on others to step up.

The bloc currently has 98 entities and nearly 1,160 individuals blacklisted for Russia’s role in Ukraine.

He said he expected a final political agreement after the summer on a new legal tool to make breaching or attempting to bypass sanctions a criminal offence everywhere in the EU, which is not the case currently.

The policy, meant to curb circumventing restrictions by transferring assets to family members who had not been sanctioned, could then take effect in the autumn.

“If it’s the case, the money will go back to a fund for Ukrainian people, to give back the money to the Ukrainian people after the confiscation of assets,” he said.