G7 countries called the condition for unfreezing Russian assets

Russian assets in the West will remain blocked until Moscow “compensates” for the damage caused to Ukraine. Such a statement contained in the declaration of the leaders of the G7 countries (G7), adopted on July 12 in Vilnius.

“We reaffirm that, in accordance with our legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain frozen until Russia pays for the damage it has caused Ukraine,” the declaration reads.

The document also says that the G7 leaders recognize the need to create an international reparation mechanism, in this regard, countries are ready to explore options for developing appropriate mechanisms.

June 21 Bloomberg with reference to the EU report informedthat the union concluded that there were no legal grounds for the complete confiscation of the frozen Russian assets. In this regard, the bloc advocates “for the direction of windfall profits from investments to Ukraine.”

At the end of June, Postimees newspaper reportedthat Estonia became the first European country to develop a legal scheme for the use of Russian assets in the interests of Ukraine. It is proposed to transfer Russian property located in Estonia to Kyiv. If Russia admits that it caused this damage and compensates for it, Moscow will be able to receive compensation for property in Estonia.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Western countries blocked 300 billion euros of reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and 19 billion euros of private funds of Russian businessmen, said in November 2022 the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Since then, EU countries have been discussing various mechanisms for the confiscation and use of Russian assets, as well as their transfer to Ukraine. The Kremlin called the blocking of assets theft and promised to take retaliatory measures.

In 2022, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov named resolution of the UN General Assembly, according to which Russia must pay reparations in favor of Ukraine, an attempt to “complete the robbery” of Russia’s blocked reserves. He stressed that Moscow is against such measures and this decision is not legally binding for Russia.