MPs push for Russian asset seizures as Government targets tech and diamond trade

MPs push for Russian asset seizures as Government targets tech and diamond trade

Sanctions are ‘a powerful tool in our armoury’, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the European Union cannot confiscate frozen assets of the Russian Federation due to the lack of legal basis.

UK wants more say over fate of €200B in frozen Russian assets

The Brits believe transferring the assets into a special fund would be a step toward outright seizure.

At the headquarters of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, however, what Edward Lucas, veteran of the transatlantic security discourse, has now formulated goes beyond what is customary. In his contribution, he calls for the expropriation of the frozen Russian foreign assets – not out of legal necessity, but out of geopolitical calculus. For, according to his admission, Russia is not to be stopped militaryly.

A little-known Brussels institution, Euroclear, has come under international scrutiny for holding a significant portion of the Russian state's frozen assets. There are growing suggestions that this money should be used to rebuild Ukraine. However, the Belgian prime minister is warning against this, saying it would be an act of war.

What Politico reveals about Russia's handling of seized state assets and their delivery to Ukraine