British foreign minister, David Lammy says Europe should move from freezing Russian assets to seizing them.
Lammy stated this on Tuesday, hardening Britain’s position on how the West should use bonds and other securities frozen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Recall that after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, blocking $300-$350 billion of sovereign Russian assets.
Lammy told parliament that Europe has to act quickly, expressing belief that they should move from freezing assets to seizing assets.
“Europe has to act quickly, and I believe we should move from freezing assets to seizing assets. It’s not an issue on which any government can act alone. We must act with European allies,” he said.
In a January debate in parliament on what to do with the frozen assets, foreign office minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty, said that Britain was considering all lawful measures that they could possibly take to ensure that Ukraine got the support it needed.
According to the European Union estimates, some 210 billion euros ($220.58 billion) of the frozen money is held in the bloc, mainly in Euroclear, a Brussels-based securities depository.
