France may be the first to seize frozen Russian assets and fund Ukraine aid
Photo: Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
France may soon become the first country to confiscate frozen Russian assets under Paris jurisdiction. This would create the first precedent allowing the seizure of all Kremlin frozen assets in the future, says Ukraine's Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.
Stefanchuk noted that the issue of confiscation was raised last week while he and his team were working in the parliaments of European Union countries and spoke at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
"France is now very close to passing a law related to the confiscation of frozen Russian assets," he said
Stefanchuk added that discussions had taken place regarding mechanisms for implementing the seizure of Russia's assets. If France confiscates Kremlin assets, it will become the first and powerful precedent for such actions in Europe.
According to the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, the European Union is increasingly aware that the responsibility for supporting Ukraine is shifting onto them. In this context, the seizure of Russian assets will become one of the means to provide aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Frozen Russian assets
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have frozen all sovereign assets of Russia's Central Bank held under their jurisdiction. The total amount of frozen assets is nearly $300 billion. The vast majority of these funds are held in the European Union, notably in the Belgian depository Euroclear.
Confiscating these funds is supposedly not possible at the moment, as there are "no legal mechanisms" for doing so. However, some countries have the political will to use these assets — or at least the income generated from them — in Ukraine's interest.
The United Kingdom has begun using income from frozen Russian assets to provide aid to Kyiv. In this way, Russia is effectively paying for weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian army.
Meanwhile, Russia can only helplessly wave its arms and issue threats. However, recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin found an unexpected "plus" in the freezing of Russian assets in the West.
