UK to hold Russian assets until Kiev is compensated – Guardian – RT Business News

British officials have confirmed that Russian state assets will not be returned even after the conflict in Ukraine ends, but only if Moscow pays compensation to Kiev, The Guardian reported on Friday.

According to Russian estimates, Western sanctions have frozen more than $300 billion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. In addition, the assets of Russian citizens and companies worth billions more were confiscated.

According to the Bank of Russia, the Russian state’s assets and reserves worth £26 billion ($32.1 billion) are currently located in the UK.

British MPs and Ukrainian officials are pressing for frozen reconstruction funds to be handed over to Kiev. According to the outlet, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly last week insisted that the Russian state’s assets must remain unchanged until the country agrees to pay compensation to Ukraine.

The European Union and its allies have been investigating methods of expropriating Russian assets. The Council of Europe last week created a Register of Digital Damage for Ukraine – a step described as the first step towards creating such a register. The International Compensation Mechanism.

The registry will be based in The Hague and act as the “Evidence and claim information about damage, loss or injury to individuals and the Ukrainian state.”

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that EU officials are studying how to transfer profits from about 196.6 billion euros ($211.1 billion) of Russian assets owned in Euroclear to Kiev. Russian money for the world’s largest liquidation house generated hundreds of millions of euros in interest last year.

However, Western officials still face legal challenges over the feasibility of confiscating Russian funds. According to Antonios Tzanakopoulos, Professor of International Law at Oxford University, Russian assets, as the embodiment of the state, are protected by sovereign immunity. Therefore, confiscating this money would be a violation of international law.

Moscow has rejected Western attempts to transfer the confiscated assets to Ukraine “barbarism” And “theft,” He warned that Russia would reciprocate if necessary.

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