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Here’s how to find more funds for Ukraine – liquidate Russia’s $300bn in frozen assets --- [Opinion]
(www.theguardian.com)
Wait, they haven’t done that already?
this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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No. The property of the ruling class is holier than any war effort. If they start liquidating russian oligrach money to help Ukraine win the war, next thing people demand billionaires money to be used to fight climate change and famine.
Also freezing assets does not necessarily invoke a retaliation, whereas liquidating the assets could result in western assets in Russia to be liquidated for compensation. This could again hurt billionaires with relevant investments in Russia.
While I love a good hate session against the billionaires as much as the next peon, it's not the main reason
If we want to pretend/delude ourselves that we're the good guys we need to operate within the rule of law (even though of course Putler doesn't care about that).
Freezing assets - easy peasy legally sound plenty of precedent, no blow back on the various western governments who ordered the freezes.
Seizing assets however has lots of rules around it. If the west breaks those rules then they lose the "moral high ground" - the politicians care about that because then their opposition can attack them and they might lose the next election over it.
For the record I think we categorically are the good guys in this instance (Ukraine support), although it has certainly not always been true in the past for other conflicts
Profit and private property over human life. Love to see it.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The White House has warned that the US will run out of funds for Ukraine by the end of the year if Congress doesn’t approve a new assistance package.
While we are grateful for every penny of international assistance, it is time to make Russia pay too: by confiscating the $300bn (£238bn) in Russian central bank assets currently frozen by western states.
The legal mechanism of confiscation should set out clear criteria around Russia’s war of aggression, so that other states do not believe the seizure is arbitrary or could be easily repeated in the case of minor transgressions.
Russia has committed major crimes in Ukraine, including deportation of children, rape and torture, inhuman treatment of prisoners of war and targeted attacks on civilian facilities.
Those that continue working there should have weighed the risks of possible illegal alienation of their assets, since such measures are usual practices for authoritarian regimes against so-called “hostile” actions of other states.
It is fair, morally right and achievable to transfer Russian central bank assets for Ukraine’s self-defence, recovery and compensation for victims.
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