The EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy believes that the money of the Russian oligarchs, frozen by sanctions, should serve the benefit, namely — transferred to repair the damage caused by Russia to Ukraine. This was stated by Josep Borel in an interview with the Financial Times.
Borel drew a parallel with the United States and the billion-dollar assets of the Afghan bank. The US has divided the blocked money between the compensation of the damage and the country's humanitarian support, and it would be logical to introduce a similar model for Russia's reserves. We remind you that Canada is already working on such functionality.
"I would be very much in favor because it makes sense. We have the money, and someone has to explain to me why it's good for Afghan money and bad for Russian money," said Josep Borrell.
In March, Russia reported that frozen gold and foreign exchange assets amounted to about $300 billion, for a total of more than $600 billion. The damage that Russia has caused to Ukraine exceeds this amount, but even partial compensation will not be superfluous for Ukraine. According to Borrel, the reparations and reconstruction assistance initiative should come from Russia itself.
"This is one of the most important political issues: who will pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine?" Borrel asked.
