In Switzerland, they announced pressure on the transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine

Switzerland feels the pressure of the international community, which requires the involvement of all states in the process of transferring frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, declared in an interview with Tages-Anzeiger, the head of the country’s foreign affairs department, Ignazio Cassis.

“If you want to give this money to Ukraine, you need appropriate international and national legal adjustments,” Cassis said, noting that the disposal of the frozen funds would require a nationwide referendum.

Cassis also added that the right to property is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is on the same level as freedom of speech.

At the end of September 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that Switzerland block Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine. He also expressed his wish that Switzerland increase its support for the country.

In mid-March, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that as a result of the sanctions, Russia has lost access to almost half of its own gold and foreign exchange reserves abroad. It was about $300 billion.

This is not the first time the idea of ​​confiscating frozen Russian funds has been heard. In particular, on March 11, Kyiv reported that all frozen Russian assets abroad were “reserved” for Ukraine. According to the country’s Deputy Minister of Economy Denis Kudin, a total of $415 billion worth of assets were frozen.

The Kremlin called the freezing of Russian assets theft. At the end of October, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the blocking of assets abroad is contrary to international law. He noted that Russia is limited in its actions to combat such a decision, but the Russian authorities will not “sit idly by.”