Flags of Ukraine, the USA and the District of Columbia at the Capitol building in Washington. File photoWASHINGTON, Jun 30The US administration hopes that the steps taken by Congress will allow the transfer of assets confiscated from Russian entrepreneurs to Ukraine, said the deputy head of the US Department of Justice Lisa Monaco, speaking as part of a discussion on national security challenges organized on the Google platform. Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, that Moscow will regard the use of Russian assets by certain countries as an unfriendly step, to which a response will follow.
"We aim to get to these assets, whether they are in the form of luxury yachts, bank accounts, other goods, aircraft or whatever. Nothing is excluded. If we can trace that they are associated with illegal activities, sanctions evasion, then, from our point of view, (their seizure) is on the agenda", said Monaco.
The Deputy Attorney General of the United States specified that the next the steps after tracking down «illegal», from Washington's point of view, Russian assets will be their confiscation and sale. they are needed… and these are the people of Ukraine,” added Monaco.In Turkey, the US plan for Ukraine was revealed. She also expressed doubt that the process of transferring the assets seized from Russian businessmen would take «years.» The day before, the US Treasury Department informed that over the past hundred days, the States and their REPO allies have frozen and blocked assets related to Russia for 330 billion dollars. The work of the multilateral interdepartmental group, called REPO — after the English abbreviation of the phrase «Russian elites, figureheads and oligarchs», began in March. The United States, Australia, Canada, the European Commission, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and the United Kingdom are participating in the work of this structure, delegating representatives of the ministries of finance, justice or the interior. Western countries have stepped up sanctions pressure on Moscow after the start of the military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine . Restrictive measures mainly affected the banking sector and high-tech products. Some countries have frozen Russian assets. Many companies have announced the termination of their activities in the country. In Europe, calls have become louder to refuse the supply of energy resources from Russia. In addition, several countries have expanded the lists of Russians subject to personal sanctions. The Kremlin called what is happening an economic war, but noted the readiness for such a development of events.