The United States have proposed working groups from the G7 countries to explore ways to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. With the support of the UK, Japan and Canada, the US proposed to prepare options on confiscating Russian assets for a possible G7 meeting around February 24, 2024.
The EU, UK and France have stressed that the money received via the confiscation would not be easily accessible and would also be insufficient to cover Ukraine's reconstruction needs. In addition, the countries noted that the confiscation of Russian assets should not occur to the detriment of providing financial support to Kiev in 2024.
Russia's Stance on Asset Theft
Moscow has repeatedly stressed that any attempt to confiscate Russian frozen assets would violate basic principles on international law and will trigger legal response from Russia.
"Those who are trying to initiate this, and those who will implement it, must understand that Russia will never leave those who did this alone. And it will constantly exercise its right to a legal battle, internationally, nationally or otherwise. And this, of course, will have — both Europeans and Americans understand this very well — it will have legal consequences for those who initiated and implemented it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said commenting on the issue.
Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin dubbed the West’s asset seizure an “unseemly business,” and stressed that “stealing other people’s assets has never brought anyone good.”