Confiscation of immobilized Russian state assets is moral and vital
chathamhouse.orgMay 01
EU Agrees to Send $3.2B of Frozen Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine
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The Facts
Belgium, the current President of the Council of the European Union (EU), Wednesday announced that the bloc's ambassadors have agreed "in principle" to send revenues generated from frozen Russian assets held in the EU to Ukraine.
The agreement allows Euroclear — which holds the majority of the bloc's frozen Russian assets — to keep just over 10% of the generated profits, while nearly 90% will be sent to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility to buy weapons.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Repurposing Russian profits is necessary to finance the ongoing war effort and ensure the successful rebuilding of Ukraine after the conflict. Vladimir Putin is unlikely to cooperate in a reparations campaign, so the West must act proactively and do what is right against Putin's hypocritical objections.
Establishment-critical narrative
The seizing of frozen Russian assets is legally dubious and incredibly damaging to international confidence in the West's financial institutions. By using profits that are rightfully Russian, a dangerous and irreversible precedent will be set that the West will regret. This move will do little but encourage divestment from the Western world.
Nerd narrative
There's a 70% chance either the US or EU will seize sovereign Russian assets in 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.