Spain backs EU efforts to use frozen Russian assets, cuts gas imports from Russia

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Friday his government supported the efforts made by the European Commission to monetize underlying frozen Russian assets held in the EU to help finance the Ukrainian government.

"From Spain, we've been advocating for increasing as much as possible the financing for Ukraine..." Cuerpo said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "We are advocating to actually look at creative ways to also use those immobilized assets."

Cuerpo also said Spain, which is one of the main importers of Russian liquefied natural gas in the European Union, was working to reduce those imports and diversify with supplies from countries such as the U.S.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Alex Richardson)