The United States plans to propose to the G7 countries the development of a legal mechanism for the confiscation of frozen assets of the Russian Federation. This is stated in a document with the American initiative that has come into the possession of international media.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Purpose of Using Confiscated Funds — Supporting Ukraine’s Defense
According to the disclosed data, this concerns approximately 300 billion dollars, a significant portion of which is blocked in European financial institutions. It is expected that these funds could be directed towards financing Ukraine’s defense needs.
According to sources, American officials have already discussed the idea of gradually seizing frozen assets with their European counterparts. Such a step is intended to serve as an additional lever of pressure on Moscow to compel it to engage in negotiations to end the military conflict.
Additional Sanctions Against Russia and Restrictions for Partners
In addition to the issue of asset confiscation, the US is urging the G7 to impose tariffs of 50-100% on China and India in the event they purchase Russian oil. It is also proposed to introduce restrictions on the activities of the so-called “shadow fleet,” which transports energy resources from Russia, and to impose a ban on insuring maritime shipments of Russian oil.
The list of potential sanctions also includes measures against organizations that support Russia’s military-industrial complex, regional banks, as well as a ban on providing services in the fields of artificial intelligence and financial technologies in Russia’s special economic zones.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Western countries have blocked over 260 billion euros in Russian assets. Most of these — about 190 billion euros — are held in the Belgian depository Euroclear. The European Union has repeatedly considered the issue of fully confiscating these assets, but has currently decided to use only the profits from them to assist Ukraine.
In the Kremlin, the West’s plans to confiscate Russian assets have been described as encroachments on state and private property, as well as illegal actions.