In a letter to The Times, politicians say a legal transfer of $300bn would send a ‘clear message’ to aggressors and deter future conflicts
January 6, 2025
KOSTIANTYN LIBEROV/LIBKOS/GETTY IMAGES
Britain must transfer all of Russia’s frozen assets to Ukraine to send Moscow a clear message that “aggressors must and will pay”, MPs wrote on Monday.
In a letter to The Times, a group of British MPs and politicians from allied nations argue the government should work out how to legally transfer $300 billion in frozen reserves at the Central Bank of Russia to Ukraine. They add that transferring a minimum of £25.5 billion held in UK accounts would send a “clear message” of strategic resolve and help to deter future conflicts.
“Previous loans and emergency funding are not enough — and leave western taxpayers on the hook. Only using the assets themselves ensures that Russia pays for its crimes,” they write.
The letter comes before a parliamentary debate on Monday on the topic of seizing frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine through the war.
The frozen resources are a combination of shareholdings in companies and cash held in bank accounts. G7 nations have already committed to lending Ukraine $50 billion, to be repaid from frozen asset interest only.
In October the UK announced it would provide Ukraine with a £2.26 billion loan as part of the broader package from the G7 nations. Ministers believe transferring the assets themselves would present legal problems.
However, Dr Mike Martin, a Lib Dem MP and former army officer who is leading the debate, said there must be a way round the issue.
“There is an unanswerable moral, strategic and legal case for the use of Russian state assets to support Ukraine in its war effort. It’s never been more urgent than in a world where the incoming US administration might be pulling the plug on support for Ukraine,” he said.
The letter is signed by more than a dozen British MPs as well as eight senior parliamentarians, including committee chairs, from allied nations such as Germany, Poland, the Baltic countries and Finland.
British MPs include Sir Julian Lewis, former chair of the defence select committee, Alex Sobel, chair of the UK all-party parliamentary group for Ukraine, and Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader.
They say the $50 billion in frozen asset interest is an important first step, but it only provides Ukraine with emergency funding for a year at most. It also leaves Ukraine or G7 taxpayers having to repay the loan if the assets are unfrozen.
The UK holds the highest-known quantity of frozen Russian reserves outside of the EU, and MPs said the UK could use its extensive global financial services sector, saying that Britain was “well positioned to lead. Russia’s war economy is stretched to its limit. Seizing the invader’s foreign assets is therefore strategically vital. It is legal. It will not harm financial stability.”
I might have expected to see Sir Iain on that list; he’s rock solid.
A pleasant surprise to see a LibDem on there.
Those who didn’t sign : fuck you.
The UK is still sitting on the proceeds of the sale of CFC (Abramovich’s old club). Fuck knows why.
As for skanky lawyers that ponce off putinaZi cash; fuck them too. Or better still, stick them in a dungeon with paedos.
Send them all to the frontline.