JRL NEWSWATCH: “Grabbing $300 billion of Russian assets is no panacea, West cautions in Davos” – Reuters
- “Western officials looking at confiscating Russian assets
- No decisions yet made – U.S. special representative
- Belgium: we need to work out a mechanism”
“Western officials said in Davos … they were open to … confiscating $300 billion of Russian assets to help Ukraine, but cautioned … the devil was in the legal detail and that, even if it could be done, it would be no panacea for Kyiv. After … Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, blocking around $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West. G7 countries are discussing possibly confiscating the frozen Russian assets … [S]ome G7 members have concerns about the precedent, mechanism and potential impact of taking such a step against central bank assets. …”