West is exploring all options regarding frozen Russian assets
(Baonghean.vn) - A US official told Reuters news agency that even if Moscow's money is confiscated, Ukraine will not be able to receive all of it at once.
According to RT, Reuters news agency quoted a senior US Treasury official as saying that no option was off the table as G7 countries continued to discuss the possibility of using Russian assets frozen by the West to aid Ukraine.
Washington and its allies have frozen about $300 billion in Russian central bank assets after imposing sanctions in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. About $200 billion of that money is held in the EU. The US has insisted for months that international law allows the seizure of the money, but Germany and France have expressed concern that such a move could set a dangerous precedent.
An unnamed Treasury official told the agency on Tuesday that the fate of the frozen Russian assets would be discussed at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, scheduled to open in Capri, Italy, on April 17.
Western countries will consider all available options to use the money to support Kiev, the source said, declining to specify which option was most feasible.
However, the official clarified that even if the US and its allies eventually decide to seize all of Russia's money, Ukraine will not be able to receive the entire amount at once.
The official also warned that no major breakthrough would happen this week as the final decision on the issue would be made by G7 leaders.
Other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that one of the “most promising proposals” under consideration would see the United States and its allies seize interest on frozen Russian assets to use as collateral for loans or bonds issued to help Ukraine.
Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko told Reuters he would meet his German counterpart Christian Lindner and other G7 officials this week to discuss Russian assets, stressing the need for G7 unity regardless of the approach the group takes.
Moscow, for its part, has repeatedly said that seizing their funds would be theft and would further undermine global confidence in the Western financial system, and warned that it could respond in kind to such a move by the US and its allies.
