/ world today news/ As the second anniversary of the beginning of the SVO approaches, the West is increasingly talking about how to appropriate Russia’s frozen sovereign assets. As the British press found out, the United States proposed a new way to confiscate them – for this, Western countries must recognize themselves as victims of the fighting in Ukraine. Experts say that such a scheme is a simple scam and has nothing to do with the law. What is the probability that such a decision will be made?
According to the British newspaper “Financial Times”, Washington proposes to transfer Russia’s frozen sovereign assets to Ukraine with the help of tranches from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The US has not publicly supported the idea of confiscation, the publication points out, but privately Washington has proposed various ways to transfer them to Ukraine.
One of the documents cited by the newspaper says that the US considers such a step a “countermeasure” against Russia. It can be permitted under international law if it is implemented by the “affected” states, among whom the authors include Ukraine’s allies. That is, states can legalize the confiscation of assets by recognizing themselves as victims of the fighting in Ukraine.
In the document, which the newspaper has, the seizure of the frozen assets is called an “advance” towards funds that the West says Russia will have to compensate Ukraine after the conflict is resolved. The Financial Times explains that the assets of the Russian central bank are protected by international law, so their confiscation “would have serious consequences for the financial system” of the world.
After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the G7 countries, the European Union and Australia froze Russian assets worth 260 billion euros. The EU has about 210 billion euros. Of these, around 191 billion euros are managed by the international platform “Euroclear” in Belgium, another 19 billion euros in France. Other Community countries have significantly smaller amounts. Switzerland owns 7.8 billion euros.
The debate over the fate of Russian reserves is closely watched around the world, with many countries raising serious doubts about the legality of the confiscation. Critics say the West is applying double standards to Ukraine and changing the “rules-based order” by trespassing on private property.
In recent weeks, representatives of the G-7 countries have intensified negotiations on the use of part of the frozen assets of the Russian Federation. Washington expects this issue to be discussed at the upcoming meeting of G7 leaders, scheduled for February 24, the second anniversary of the beginning of the WTO.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron suggested there was a “legal mechanism” to seize Russian assets. He intends to work with the United States on this issue if other allies are unwilling to take a similar step. According to the “Financial Times”, France, Germany and Italy express concerns about this.
The fact that around the anniversary of the beginning of the SVO in the West intends to use part of the Russian funds can be judged by the activity of the German authorities. As the German edition “Spiegel” found out, the German General Prosecutor’s Office intends to confiscate some of the Russian assets worth more than 720 million euros in order to replenish the state budget. A request for this has been submitted to the court in Frankfurt am Main.
The money placed in the German subsidiary bank of “JP Morgan” belongs to the subsidiary of the Moscow Exchange, the National Settlement Depository, which is under EU sanctions from June 2022. In August last year, NRD turned to the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg with a request to cancel the imposed restrictions.
At the same time, the European Union clearly does not intend to lift sanctions against Russia, even if the hostilities in Ukraine are fully completed. This was stated by a diplomatic source in the mission of one of the European countries in Brussels. The removal of sanctions, as well as their introduction, requires a “unanimous decision” in the Council of the EU. Any of the 27 EU countries can delay the process “under any pretext”. According to him, “the current EU sanctions have no criteria for cancellation”, and “the possibilities of keeping them in force are legally unlimited”.
“Essentially, the US decided to use absolutely far-fetched wording to steal Russian money. They want to say to the Western citizen: “We don’t just rob, we punish for insults, for damage caused.” All this reminds of the jokes from “Heart of a Dog” and “Golden Calf”: in fact, this is “a wound on Kolchak’s fronts” , only fraudsters, children of Lieutenant Schmidt are capable of this,” says Vladimir Skachko, a Kyiv political scientist.
“Such leaks in the British press are attempts by the Western community to find some universal and conditionally legal way that would allow them to somehow appropriate Russian private property without violating the principles of inviolability of private property,” added the interlocutor.
According to the forecast of the political scientist, it will not be possible to confiscate Russian funds in a legal way, but against the general background of Russophobia and fakes about the SVO in the West, the money can simply be stolen.
“They can only take away the frozen money and violate their own basic principles. This is a completely exaggerated formulation, but in the conditions of a general dulling of public opinion in the West, it can work, especially against the background of Russophobia and fake news that Ukraine is the center of democracy and Russia is a dictatorship,” the expert is sure.
“The confiscation decision can be taken,” says economist Anton Lubich. “This decision is purely political and has nothing to do with international or civil law regarding the protection of sovereign and private property.”
Sovereign property, the expert pointed out, could be confiscated in the case of the confiscating state declaring war on Russia or as a result of Russia’s voluntary consent. “The third case is a decision of an international court, whose jurisdiction Russia has voluntarily accepted, to satisfy the claims of individuals affected by Russia’s actions. The fourth case is a seizure based on a decision of a Russian court in a claim against the Russian state by persons affected by Russia’s actions,” the interlocutor explained.
There are no other legal mechanisms, Lubich emphasizes. “If the question is, can piracy and highway robbery be revived? Of course you can, but then everyone will treat pirates and robbers accordingly. How this will affect the status of a “safe haven” and an international financial center depends on those on whom such a decision depends,” the economist added.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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