The proposal to withdraw Russia's frozen foreign exchange reserves, put forward by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, is illegal and could be fraught with Europe.

This was stated to journalists by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko.

“This is the destruction of the very foundation of international relations, and these decisions, if taken, will hit the Europeans themselves, the financial system and undermine confidence in Europe and the West in general, because this is complete lawlessness and rather the law of the jungle,” Grushko quotes TASS.

“Therefore, a huge number of countries, together with Russia, will stand up for the protection of the world order based on international law,” the diplomat stressed.

On Monday, May 9, Borrell, in an interview with the Financial Times (FT), supported the initiative to confiscate Russian foreign currency assets.

According to him, they could be used to restore Ukraine.

“I would definitely support such a decision, because it is extremely logical,” said the head of European diplomacy.

According to him, such a precedent already exists.

As an example, Borrell cited the US administration's order to freeze the funds of the Central Bank of Afghanistan in the amount of $ 7 billion. The White House then argued its actions with the desire to deprive the Taliban* of access to assets stored in American bank accounts.

At the same time, Washington promised to direct 50% of these funds to the humanitarian needs of the Afghans, but only after the relevant court decision.

The remaining $3.5 billion will have to remain in the United States to compensate the families of victims of terrorist attacks, including those of September 11, 2001.

“This money (blocked assets of the Russian Federation. -

RT

) is at our disposal, and let someone explain to me why it is acceptable to do this with Afghan money, but not with Russian money,” Borrell said.

According to him, the question of how to pay for the restoration of Ukraine has become one of the most important in the EU because of the "incredible amount of money" that will be required.

  • Head of European Diplomacy Josep Borrell

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  • © Sebastián Vivallo Oñate/Agencia Makro

At the same time, as the FT noted, if a step leading to the confiscation of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves is nevertheless taken, it will alarm other governments "which have tense relations with the EU and its partners."

According to the RF Ministry of Finance, Western states have blocked about $300 billion of Russian funds.

Collective search for loopholes

A group of 73 MEPs also took the initiative to confiscate Russian reserves.

They sent their proposals to the head of European diplomacy.

According to the media resource Euractiv, which read the message on May 9, politicians urged Borrell to direct $300 billion from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to finance the Ukrainian armed forces and to restore the country.

To neutralize the legal obstacles, the European Commission needs to "introduce an urgent legislative initiative that would provide a clear framework to redirect Putin's wealth to the defense and restoration of Ukraine," the letter says.

“The international community should take as a model the Italian anti-mafia legislation, which allows finding new uses for assets confiscated from sanctioned persons,” one of the signatories, Italian MP Fabio Massimo Castaldo, explained to Euractiv.

The opinion about the need to expropriate the assets of Russians under sanctions is shared by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

In a recent interview with Interfax-Ukraine, he stated that he was “absolutely convinced” that it is extremely important not only to freeze Russian funds, but also to make their confiscation possible.

However, he was forced to admit that "the legal level of this issue is not so simple."

“There are 27 legal systems in the EU and in many EU member states this will require a court order.

It is a difficult and long process,” said Michel.

However, he stressed that he had already instructed the legal service of the council to prepare options for a solution that "would facilitate and make it possible to confiscate the assets of people under EU or other countries of the world sanctions."

Local initiative

Meanwhile, Ireland has already expressed its readiness to transfer Russian assets for the restoration of Ukraine.

As the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and part-time head of the Ministry of Defense of Ireland, Simon Coveney, announced at the end of April, the government has blocked funds in the amount of €1.2 billion and is open to a proposal to confiscate them.

However, he noted, this would require a clear legal basis.

In Poland, they said they want to agree within the EU on the procedure for the confiscation of Russia's assets.

Deputy Foreign Minister of the country Pavel Yablonsky, in an interview with the FT on April 27, said that Warsaw was ready to irretrievably expropriate them and was “open for consultations” on how this could be done.

  • Capitol

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  • © Rudy Sulgan

The United States is already taking steps to legitimize the possible confiscation of these funds.

In particular, on April 28, President Joe Biden sent a bill to Congress to expand the government's powers to seize Russian-related assets.

“This will allow the government to use the funds received to help Ukraine, as well as strengthen the relevant law enforcement tools,” the White House explained.

A day earlier, a document of similar content was adopted in the lower house of the US Congress.

The bill, introduced by a group of senators, was voted by an overwhelming majority of congressmen - 417 to eight.

However, Russia is not going to sit idly by while the West discusses the possible confiscation of its property.

In particular, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, announced on April 19 that she plans to challenge in court the decision of foreign partners to freeze the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves.

Demolition of the architecture of international law

The position that the United States and the European Union have taken today in relation to Russian foreign assets indicates that the collective West has broken the entire architecture of international law and distanced itself from it, experts say.

“Under pressure from Washington, the European Union has embarked on the rails of openly gangster behavior in world economic and political affairs.

Borrell's initiative is nothing more than an attempt to brazenly steal funds from a sovereign state, ”senator Konstantin Dolgov said in an interview with RT.

He noted that most of these funds were generated by selling oil and gas to Europeans and Americans, and now they are trying to take this money away.

Thus, the West actually creates a situation in which it turns out that it has been using Russian natural resources for free for a number of years, the senator added.

“What kind of trust in the European Union and the West as a whole can we talk about after that?

And they are still indignant that we have converted gas payments into rubles.

Audacity has no limits.

However, such cases do not go unpunished.

And one of the punishments will be a further decline in the authority and influence of the EU in world affairs, as well as the weakening of Western currencies and the dismantling of the dominance of the dollar in the world settlement system, ”Dolgov said.

In turn, Leonid Krutakov, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, noted in a commentary on RT that the current actions of the US and the EU indicate the absence of politically neutral rules in the world market.

“There are political interests of the subjects of the global market.

And these subjects are states and state systems, not transnational corporations,” he explained.

According to Krutakov, the very fact of freezing Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves by the West demonstrates that there are no rules left in international relations.

And for other investors, as well as just for the holders of funds in Western countries, this should serve as a signal.

“Because today the West in making its decisions is guided not by the concepts of “right/wrong”, but “expedient/inappropriate”.

And the expropriation of Russian property now seems expedient to them in order to achieve their geopolitical goals,” he said.

In turn, Konstantin Dolgov expressed the opinion that, in fact, the West is not interested in restoring Ukraine and securing its status as an independent state, since they need it as a constant irritant for Russia, and for this it must always be kept in a dependent position, barely making ends meet.

“The West, in an attempt to save its dominant position in the world, is pursuing a line towards the maximum weakening of Russia.

Therefore, all means are used to achieve these goals,” the senator concluded.



* "Taliban" - the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.