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The United States has suggested that members of the Group of Seven (G7) explore ways to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, the Financial Times reported Monday.

According to reports, several European governments are discussing the matter, and no final decision has been made. G7 finance ministers and their deputies also discussed the matter this month, involving formulating policies and assessing risks.

The United States, with the support of the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada, has proposed moving forward with preparations for the confiscation of Russian assets with a view to presenting options as early as possible for discussion at the G7 summit, possibly in late February 2024.

Germany, France, Italy and the European Union have expressed reservations about the confiscation of $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, saying it is necessary to carefully assess the legality of confiscating Russian assets before deciding to confiscate them.

Several European ministers stressed that the confiscation of Russian assets should remain highly confidential.

According to the Financial Times, forfeiture options under discussion include outright confiscation or spending of Russian assets, taxing Russian assets and using them as collateral for loans.

Most of Russia's frozen assets are in Europe. The EU has so far been reluctant to "personally" confiscate Russian assets and is looking for ways to confiscate the proceeds of frozen Russian assets held in financial institutions. About 191 billion euros of Russian sovereign assets are frozen in the European Clearing Bank.

The main concern in Europe is that the seizure of Russian assets could affect financial stability and invite retaliation from Moscow. Italy, which takes over the G7 presidency next year, is concerned that Russia could retaliate against Italian companies operating in Russia. Russia has made similar threats before.

Russia has warned that if the United States confiscates Russian assets, it will sever relations with the United States in response.

After the Ukraine crisis escalated in February last year, the United States and the European Union successively imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, involving oil and gas, finance and many other fields. In June last year, the European Union decided to ban the purchase of Russian gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products by sea transport. The ban came into effect on February 5. In December, the European Union, the G7 and Australia capped seaborne crude oil exports to Russia at $60 a barrel, and the European Union launched an embargo on seaborne crude exports to Russia in the same month.