The countries of the "G7" came close to confiscating Russian assets for further transfer to Ukraine.
The Financial Times writes about it.
According to the publication, the US, which previously did not publicly support confiscation, announced to allies in the group that it had found a legal way to confiscate under international law. It is about the confiscation of sovereign assets as a countermeasure to induce Russia to end the war. This is what is written in the document distributed in the G7 committees. David Cameron, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain, also announced the existence of a legal way of confiscation.
The topic of confiscation may become the subject of discussion of the G7 leaders at the meeting on February 24, 2024.
The newspaper writes: negotiations on the confiscation intensified due to the fact that the US Congress has not yet approved a package of aid to Ukraine in the amount of more than $100 billion, and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, vetoed the allocation of €50 billion from the EU budget. Although the European Union decided at the summit in Brussels to allocate €50 billion to Ukraine for the years 2024-2027, these funds are not included in the budget and will be provided by the member states.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in November that the EC was working on a proposal to pool some of the profits from frozen Russian state assets to aid Ukraine and its post-war reconstruction. According to her, the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets is about €211 billion. A significant part of these funds is kept in the Euroclear depository and has already brought almost €750 million in profit in the first quarter of 2023. In addition, the EU has frozen €24.1 billion in assets belonging to Russians and Russian companies under sanctions.
- In December, the FT wrote that the European Commission plans to collect €15 billion to help Ukraine from the proceeds of Russian assets frozen in the European Union. This plan still needs to be supported by EU member states.