MOSCOW, 25 Feb. The West needs to be bolder in supplying arms to Ukraine and confiscating assets from Russia, CNBC quotes an article by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for The Times.
“We must be bolder in striking the Russian war economy…. And we must be bolder in confiscating hundreds of billions of frozen Russian assets,” he said.
Sunak argues that Ukraine still needs more long-range weapons, drones and ammunition and other types of help. In addition, he called on the United States to continue to provide financial and military support to Ukraine.
The article clarifies that last month, British Investment Minister Dominic Johnson met with US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo to discuss the seizure of frozen Russian assets, but stressed that this must be done in accordance with international law.
The day before, the leaders of the G7 countries said that Russian sovereign assets would not be unfrozen until Moscow paid “compensation” to Kiev.
Unfriendly countries have been imposing sanctions against Russia since February 2022, and as a result they were frozen as sovereign assets and funds of private investors. Almost immediately, talk began about their confiscation by foreign countries for various purposes. In October 2022, EU leaders instructed the European Commission to prepare proposals for the use of frozen assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that the adoption of such decisions would be another step in violating all the rules and norms of international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft.