Financial Times: G7 steps up efforts to confiscate Russian assets for Ukraine

The Group of Seven (G7) is increasing efforts to confiscate frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukraine’s benefit, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 15.

The decision could be made in the next few months, a U.S. source told the Financial Times. The G7 leaders may discuss the issue in February 2024, close to the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the newspaper.

This comes as financial support for Ukraine has stalled in Washington and Brussels due to internal disputes. The seized assets could be funneled into Ukraine’s war and reconstruction efforts, aiding the country as it faces mounting pressure on the battlefield.

The Russian central bank assets were frozen in the West after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The plan to confiscate the $300 billion in frozen reserves belonging to the Russian central bank has widespread support from Kyiv and Brussels but has been bogged down by legal issues.

However, Washington has intensified discussions on finding a legal path with the G7 in recent weeks.

“G7 members and other specially affected states could seize Russian sovereign assets as a countermeasure to induce Russia to end its aggression,” the Financial Times wrote, citing a U.S. discussion paper.

On Nov. 28, U.S. Senators also introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at confiscating assets of Russian oligarchs to be used towards the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Browder: ‘West must hand Russian Central Bank’s $350 billion to Ukraine for reconstruction’

London-based American investor Bill Browder says people call him the “number one enemy” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and, more recently, an official “Friend of Ukraine.” Browder has spent the last 13 years campaigning to freeze Putin’s assets hidden in the West. Now, he’s fighting for them t…

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Myroniuk