Britain is ready to lend Ukraine all the assets of the Russian central bank frozen in the United Kingdom. This serves as a guarantee that the Russian Federation will pay reparations to Kyiv after the end of the war. According to the plan, the confiscated assets will be returned to Russia only when it pays reparations.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain David Cameron, reports The Guardian.
This plan is more radical than the proposals to give Ukraine only excess profits from frozen rockets discussed in the European Union. The annual excess profit is estimated at $4 billion.
"There is an opportunity to use something like a syndicated loan or a bond that effectively uses the frozen Russian assets as a surety to give that money to the Ukrianians knowing that we will recoup it when reparations are paid by Russia. That may be a better way of doing it. We are aiming for the maximum amount of G7 and EU unity on this but if we cannot get it I think we will have to move ahead with allies that want to take this action," Cameron noted.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain does not believe that the plan to use frozen rockets for the benefit of Ukraine in the form of a loan or bonds will in any way undermine Londonʼs reputation. This is the first time that Cameron has made such a proposal openly and clearly.
The European Union, the G7 countries and Australia have frozen about €260 billion of assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in the form of securities and cash. At the same time, more than €200 billion of them were frozen by the EU, a large part of which is stored in the Euroclear depository in Belgium. This country is the least enthusiastic about Cameronʼs plan.
However, the US currently supports the idea of transferring Russian missiles to Ukraine in the form of bonds. According to estimates, the USA has frozen $40-60 billion of assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Russians and companies, while Great Britain has frozen about $31 billion, but the figure is not officially disclosed. Russian President Putin responded by seizing the assets of some American companies in Russia.
According to estimates, Ukraine needs €100 billion a year to confront the Russian Federation and another €50 billion a year for recovery.
Finally, David Cameron said that Putin will not stop at Ukraine.
"If we allowed Russian any form of win in Ukraine Moldova would be at risk and some of the Baltic states would be at risk," he said.