The US Department of Justice announced plans to transfer Russian assets worth $1 billion to Ukraine

The US Department of Justice is looking for an opportunity to transfer confiscated Russian assets worth more than $1 billion to Ukraine. reported First Deputy Attorney General – US Attorney General Lisa Monaco on the air of the CBS show 60 Minutes.

“We are seeking permission from Congress to use the funds received for the benefit of the Ukrainian people,” she said.

Monaco noted that since February 2022, Washington has blocked the assets of Russians around the world worth more than $1 billion subject to sanctions.

After the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation and froze Russian assets abroad. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov reported in March 2022 that the Russian Federation had lost access to half of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia – about $300 billion.

In December 2022, the US Senate approved an amendment according to which the confiscated assets of Russian businessmen can be transferred for humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.

EC President Ursula von der Leyen informed on the confiscation of 300 billion euros of Central Bank reserves and 19 billion euros of private funds of Russian businessmen. In July, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders declaredthat the EC is considering using proceeds from Russian assets in the amount of 207 billion euros, including assets of the Central Bank, to restore Ukraine.

June 21 Bloomberg citing EU report informedthat the union did not find legal grounds for the complete confiscation of the frozen assets of the Russian Federation. It was noted that the EU is considering several options for using more than 200 billion euros of assets of the Bank of Russia in order to send them to Ukraine.

The Kremlin called the freezing of Russian assets a theft and a violation of international law. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia is limited in its actions to combat such a decision, but the Russian authorities will not “sit idly by.” In May he declaredthat Russian assets should be unfrozen without any conditions.