©Anton Novoderzhavin/TASS
The planned seizure of Russian funds and property by Germany for their subsequent transfer to Ukraine may lure other countries into ignoring international law, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Thursday.
"The German government has decided to shift problems created by their predecessors on our country. With this goal in view, they are planning to confiscate Russian assets to help Ukraine rebuild," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to Volodin, this decision "would give a start to a process where all countries may ignore international law and seize what they think fit." He said that Germany should remember from its own history "how attempts to infringe on others’ property rights ended."
The senior Russian lawmaker warned that Russia would have the right to similar steps against assets of Germany and other nations if Russian assets are confiscated.
"We are living in a different reality now, both in line with the UN Charter and on the basis of precedents. It would therefore be correct to remember the recognition of Kosovo’s independence.
The United States, Germany, France and other countries who made the decision have no choice but to agree to the right of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Crimea, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic as well as the Kherson and the Zaporozhye regions to self-determination," he explained.
The Duma speaker insisted that European countries, primarily Germany and France, should pay for what is happening in Ukraine, "not only because their economies are the largest in the European Union." "It is (former German chancellor Angela) Merkel and (ex-French president Francois) Hollande who the global public should blame for the conflict in Ukraine after having sabotaged the Minsk agreements," he added.
Germany open to seize Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine — media reports
Germany is open to using billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine rebuild as long as legal issues can be resolved and allies follow suit, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Jan. 3, with reference to people familiar with the discussions.
According to the agency, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government supports Ukraine’s demand for war reparations but hasn’t yet taken an official position on seizing assets from the Russian state, since the issue is complex and some parts of the ruling coalition are more ardent than others.
In particular, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants Russia to pay for the damages caused in Ukraine. The former co-leader of Germany’s Greens, who is a long-time advocate of a tougher stance on the Kremlin, insists that seizing at least some of the frozen assets needs to be an option.
At the same time, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who heads the pro-business Free Democrats, is more cautious. He’s concerned that confiscating Russian central-bank assets could create a dangerous precedent and lead European nations and their allies into a legal quagmire, the officials said.
Germany to explore increasing military aid to Ukraine after U.S. Patriot handover Bloomberg reported that instead of a blanket seizure, a more sold path in legal terms could be to target assets of individuals who have been proven to be involved in Russian war crimes. Such cases though could take years to make their way through courts, which could reduce such an initiative to mere symbolism.
“The detail of the discussions shows how the potential for asset seizures is moving beyond a theoretical debate and toward implementation, but major hurdles remain,” the news agency quoted sources as saying.
“Scholz wants any move coordinated with allies and legally tight.”
The UN General Assembly on Nov. 14 passed a draft resolution on Russia’s payment of compensation to Ukraine for the damage caused.
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