Ukrainian capitulation will prompt mass exodus of refugees, says Sir Bill Browder
20 January 2025
Europe and the UK face a fresh immigration crisis unless $300bn (£244bn) of frozen Russian assets are seized and handed to Ukraine, the financier Sir Bill Browder has warned.
Speaking on the fringes of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Sir Bill said that the funds would allow Ukraine to defend itself for a further three or four years without having to rely on any additional Western military aid.
Donald Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top priority, but fears are growing of a shabby compromise that would force Ukraine to cede territory and fail to satisfy European security concerns.
Sir Bill, who founded the hedge fund Hermitage Capital Management, said Ukrainian capitulation would prompt a mass exodus of refugees and encourage Vladimir Putin into further aggression in the Baltic states and beyond.
It would also force European nations into dramatic increases in defence spending at a time of growing pressure on government budgets.
He said: “The main leverage that Donald Trump has in forcing a settlement on Ukraine is the idea that he can dictate terms by withdrawing US funding for the war.
“The crux of the matter is that there’s no reason why Trump should have all this leverage when there’s $300bn Russian Central Bank reserves sitting in western central banks, most of which is in the UK and Europe.
“That money should be quickly confiscated and handed to Ukraine, so that it’s not Donald Trump determining their future. If forced into a total capitulation, we are going to end up in Western Europe, in the UK, with 15-20m refugees.
“And we’re also going to end up in a situation where Putin will then make a move on Estonia.”
G7 nations have already agreed to seize the interest on the $300bn and apply the funds to Ukrainian aid, but long-standing concerns over the legality of confiscating the principle has so far frustrated attempts to go further.
Both the UK and Mr Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, were broadly onside with these suggestions, but there is general agreement that the seizure cannot be done unilaterally. In addition, a looming election in Germany has proven impossible to secure wider European backing.
Any such seizure would require the support of all 27 EU members, some of which are openly sympathetic to Putin and could veto any deal.
There is also concern that Mr Trump too would veto the seizure in view of his long-stated determination to be the political leader who secures a peace settlement.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, is expected to back urgent action to confiscate the reserves when he addresses Davos participants later this week.
Sir Bill added: “Trump shouldn’t be telling us what to do. We should be grabbing this money.
“And if Ukraine wants to settle the war, they’re fully within their rights to do so, but on terms that they want to accept.”
“If Ukraine wants to settle the war, they’re fully within their rights to do so, but on terms that they want to accept.”
Exactly right Sir Bill.
Comments were swamped with filthy kremtrolls that opened new accounts specially for this article. Here are some comments from decent people :
Dario O’Grady
Anything that breaks the Russian war machine is a good idea, keep encouraging non opec to pump, keep pinching of russian energy exports and shrink the pathetic russian economy from italy size down to Zimbabwe size. This will cramp Russias empire building until long past putins demise. Encourage Ukraine to keep burning russian oil and gas assets 🇺🇦
Simon Reeve
Seizing a criminal’s ill-gotten funds to pay out to the victims of his crimes isn’t “theft”, it’s called “compensation”.
Rushing into it might have set a bad precedence back in 2022, but after 3 years of international law breaking, asset stealing, and mass-murder, it’s impossible to pretend this isn’t justified by now 🙄
I understand (although not necessarily agree) that immediately seizing Russian assets as a “reaction” could have set a bad precedence and destabilised international order further… However, that augment has slowly but surely disintegrated over time and is gone now. After 3 years of war crimes and atrocities committed by Russia in violation of international law, that flimsy argument that using Russian assets to pay for the damage RUSSIA has caused would violate international law is just ridiculous. Just laws mean perpetrators pay for their crimes and it should be so at the international level too.
Patrick Schrabauer
Seize the assets—Putin has far more to repay, and his nation will bear this burden for decades. This is merely the first installment in a long line of reparations needed to rebuild what his costly missile systems have deliberately destroyed.
Furthermore, Putin weaponizes migration crises to strengthen his grip on power, a calculated act of thuggery. Those who apologize for or enable his actions only pave the way for even greater chaos.
Europe is happily raking in the profits from the frozen mafia assets while they let their taxpayers pay for the security of the continent, and just barely so.