US Capitol Building. File photoWASHINGTON, Apr 9The non-governmental organization American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) this week prevented Congress from passing a bill that would allow the US administration to seize the assets of Russian businessmen and transfer the proceeds to Ukraine, the Washington Post writes, citing sources familiar with the situation. According to these data, the speech is about a bipartisan initiative that was previously introduced by Congressmen Tom Malinowski (Democrat of New Jersey) and Joe Wilson (Republican of South Carolina). The bill would give the US government the power to confiscate property worth more than $5 million belonging to Russians who were sanctioned. ASWG representatives told congressmen that such a law would run counter to US law because it would prevent Russian businessmen from challenging the seizure of their property in a US court. The union insists that even if approved by Congress, the US judiciary would have repealed this law. Such an outcome, as noted, would lead to Moscow's «propaganda victory» over Washington. On the same day, congressmen voted in favor of a «drastic weakening» of the bill. The modified version of the initiative calls for the creation of a task force that will give the US administration 60 days to «determine constitutional mechanisms» by which US President Joe Biden can confiscate the assets of Russian businessmen. After that, the Capitol will be able to develop a new bill.The fifth package of EU sanctions against Russia came into forceOn February 24, Russia launched a military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. In response, Western countries announced large-scale sanctions against Moscow, primarily in the banking sector and the supply of high-tech products. Individual brands announced the cessation of work in the country. The Kremlin called these measures an economic war, the likes of which have never been seen before. The authorities stressed their readiness for such a development of events and assured that they would continue to fulfill social obligations. The Bank of Russia is taking measures to stabilize the situation on the foreign exchange market. The authorities also announced the transfer of payments for gas supplies to unfriendly countries into rubles. In addition, the government has prepared a plan to counter restrictive measures, which includes about a hundred initiatives. The volume of its financing will be about a trillion rubles.
