Zelenskyy calls on West to use frozen Russian funds for Ukraine's reconstruction
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Western countries to find a way to use Russia's frozen assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Source: Zelenskyy at a meeting of defence ministers of NATO countries in Brussels, as reported by European Pravda
Zelenskyy said that Kyiv needs to think about how to live and rebuild the country during the war, and also pointed to the statements of officials in several countries about the lack of money to help Ukraine in this matter.
Quote: "The answer is very quick: you have assets, Russian assets. If they destroy us, we can use this money. Let's find the key to have this Russian money and spend it on the reconstruction of Ukraine," Zelenskyy stressed, adding that he would talk about this in particular with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Background:
- Earlier, it was reported that the US and European partners are studying the legal basis for using about US$300 billion of frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
- The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and the European Union have frozen over EUR 300 billion worth of assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, about US$30 billion owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs are also frozen.
- Earlier in September, the US State Department announced that, for the first time, US$5.4 million of confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs will be sent to support the reintegration and rehabilitation of Ukrainian veterans.
- Meanwhile, Estonia plans to become the first country in the European Union to legalise the confiscation of Kremlin-linked assets this year to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
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