Seizing frozen Russian assets wins international law experts’ endorsement — Bloomberg
A group of international law experts and practitioners sent an official letter to the representatives of the G7 countries, arguing that confiscation of frozen Russian assets, including the funds of the Russian Central Bank, is allowed under international law, Bloomberg reported.
The European Union, the Group of Seven nations and Australia have frozen about €260 billion ($280 billion) in the form of securities and cash as a result of sanctions imposed due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
The total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine is estimated at $486 billion over the next decade, the World Bank Group said.
Read also: EU envoys greenlight using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine aid
“We have concluded that it would be lawful, under international law, for states which have frozen Russian state assets to take additional countermeasures against Russia, given its ongoing breach of the most fundamental rules of international law, in the form of transfers of Russian state assets as compensation for the damage that has resulted directly from Russia’s unlawful conduct,” the experts wrote.
Harold Hongju Koh, a Yale Law School professor and former dean, who also was a US State Department legal adviser under the Obama administration, and the Hoover Institution’s Philip Zelikow, an attorney and former career diplomat who worked in government across presidencies, including as a strategic consultant for the Biden administration, are among those who signed the letter.
The main part of Russian assets, including the funds of the Central Bank, is currently frozen in the countries of the European Union.
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