EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas stated on August 30th, 2025, that the European Union will not return frozen Russian assets unless Russia pays reparations to Ukraine. Kallas made this statement following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen where the war in Ukraine and potential peace scenarios were discussed. The EU's stance links the return of Russia's foreign assets to the Kremlin fulfilling its obligation to pay reparations to Ukraine, potentially as part of a ceasefire or peace deal. This position was conveyed after discussions among member states' foreign ministers. In separate financial news, Rosneft reported a significant decline in net profit for the first half of 2025, with a 68% year-over-year decrease to RUB 245 billion. The company's quarterly profits also showed an accelerating downward trend, with 2Q25 profit at RUB 75 billion, an 80% drop from the previous year. Additionally, the volume of overdue mortgage loans in Russia, defined as more than 90 days past due, has reached RUB 157 billion, an 8% increase month-over-month and a 114% increase year-over-year, according to one report. This report also claims the share of bad loans on bank balance sheets is 0.8%, asserting this figure is inaccurate and that banks are concealing the true situation, citing Bloomberg for alleged manipulations. An incident involving explosions was reported, with coordinates provided (54.18197, 40.46456) pointing to a Russian ammunition storehouse, according to a translation from Japanese.
