The US Department of Justice announced the transfer of part of the frozen assets of Russia to Ukraine

After the start of the Russian special operation, Western countries blocked over $ 300 billion of Russian reserves. US Department of Justice Task Force Leaderon the identification and arrest of Russian assets announced their quick transfer to Ukraine

The US authorities intend to begin transferring part of the confiscated assets of RUSSIA in favor of Ukraine in the near future, said Andrew Adams, HEAD of the US Department of Justice working group on the identification and arrest of Russian assets subject to US restrictions.

“In the future, we also aim to start the transfer of confiscated assets in favor of Ukraine. I want to emphasize that this is a relatively new development of events, ”he said, speaking at Hudson University (quoted by TASS).

The fact that Russia's funds frozen in the West may soon be directed to the restoration of Ukraine was also stated by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, who is currently on an official visit to Kyiv. “The damage must be compensated. We have frozen Russian assets worth €300 billion. I am sure that they should and will be used to restore Ukraine,” Michel said, speaking at the Verkhovna Rada (quoted by RIA Novosti).

The Central Bank called the reason for keeping reserves in dollars and euros before freezing

In February 2022, after the start of a special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions against the Russian Central Bank and froze its foreign exchange assets abroad. According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Russia has lost access to half of its gold and foreign exchange reserves - about $ 300 billion. BLOOMBERG reported on the freezing of $ 311 billion of Russian reserves and another € 19 billion from businessmen who fell under sanctions.

At the end of March, the Central Bank introduced mirror measures "for a comparable amount." The regulator restricted the movement of capital, banned the sale of securities by foreign investors and their withdrawal of funds from the Russian financial system. Payments on the corporate debt of Russian companies and public debt to debt holders from countries that support sanctions against Russia are now possible only with the permission of the government commission.

The Kremlin, commenting on the sanctions against the Central Bank, called the actions of Western countries a theft. “These are absolutely illegal actions, they are contrary to international law, this is nothing more than an encroachment on property, in this case state property, and on private property,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

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At the same time, Ukraine has repeatedly offered to send confiscated assets to help Kyiv. In November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a similar proposal. In particular, she proposed to combine the funds of the Central Bank of Russia blocked in foreign accounts and the assets of “Russian oligarchs” confiscated due to sanctions into a special fund to help Ukraine.

The US initially opposed the confiscation of Russia's assets, calling it legally impossible. Nevertheless, already on December 22, the US Senate approved an amendment to the US budget, allowing the transfer of confiscated assets of Russian businessmen for humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.