The European Union has already done a lot to freeze Russian assets and limit their use in financing the Russian "war machine", but the possibility of their removal and directing them to the goals of restoring Ukraine needs further processing from a legal point of view. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated this today in Berlin during a press conference during the International Conference of Experts on the Reconstruction of Ukraine.
"Our goal is not only to freeze, but also to seize Russian assets. But this primarily concerns the legal basis of such actions. We are working on it. We have created a task force, which includes experts from all member countries and international experts, which is called "Detain and Freeze". This allows not only to mark those assets that have been frozen, but also to determine the legal prerequisites under which these assets can be seized and used, for example, to restore Ukraine," said von der Leyen.
She noted that the EU has the political will to use frozen Russian assets to restore Ukraine, but the legal definition of such actions still requires clarification.
"Much more needs to be done to achieve this goal. At the same time, it is very important to remember - yes, we insist on observing the rule of law. But this means that we adhere to the rule of law. Therefore, this process (removal of Russian assets) must be balanced from a legal point of view," she emphasized.
