Western countries must be bolder in the issue of confiscation of frozen Russian assets, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believes. He expressed this opinion in a column for The Times, which was written in connection with the two-year anniversary of the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.
“We must be bolder in confiscating hundreds of billions of frozen Russian assets. It starts with us taking the billions in interest these assets generate and sending them to Ukraine. And then, together with the G7, we must find legal ways to seize the assets themselves and also transfer these funds to Ukraine,” Sunak wrote.
Sunak spoke about the European Union’s plans to send Ukraine profits from the assets of the Russian Central Bank frozen in European depositories. In mid-February, the EU authorities issued a decree according to which profits from Russian assets should be recorded and stored separately; the depositories themselves were prohibited from disposing of the net profit received. Brussels assumed that these funds would be used to produce weapons for Ukraine.
Bloomberg reported that some banks have warned the British government to develop legal guidelines before seizing frozen Russian assets and using them to help Ukraine. Not only London, but also Washington is in favor of withdrawing funds, but in the EU countries they are more cautious about the issue. The latter view is shared by some bankers and lawyers in the UK. They warn that the confiscation could “cause upheaval in the global financial system”, damage London’s reputation as an international financial center and threaten legal action. In this regard, banks were urged to prepare for a response from Russia.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov reported that any form of seizure of Russian assets in the West would be challenged in court. Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov also warned of mirror measures in response to confiscation.
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2024-02-25 03:30:00
