Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday praised the “sounding idea” that Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently expressed, referring to an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, who commented on the release of Russian assets that had invaded Russia's assets after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
lavrov I said At a press conference in Doha, “there are no specific stories” about releasing frozen Russian assets among European governments.
“But there's no doubt that this topic will disappear anywhere as part of the settlement, but that's natural. Americans understand this too,” he continued.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said that the issue of Russian assets that has been frozen should be considered,” he said.
“These are healthy ideas necessary to abandon the burglar's methods and we don't expect them to remain unanswered,” he added.
Rubio mentioned the frozen funds of Russia between him Interview On Monday evening, in the process of discussing with Breitbart News' Matthew Boyle about how Russia will rejoin the global economy after the war in Ukraine ends.
“There's an opportunity to work together. Obviously, it will involve talking not only about Russian assets seized by Europeans and the US, but also about damaged American companies. It will be part of a broader conversation about how to reset our relationship,” Rubio said.
“We're not at that step yet, so I don't want to go any further than myself,” he added. “That's not impossible. We can't really talk about them or even fix them until we bring this war to at least some kind of permanent ceasefire, and hopefully to a permanent end.”
The US and Europe have frozen between $300 and $350 billion in Russian assets after the Ukrainian invasion began in February 2022, much of which is in the form of bonds from the US, UK and European governments.
The exact amount of frozen assets is a matter of debate and can vary depending on how those assets are valued, but the majority of the money is under European control. It is found at the US Treasury Department. Estimated The approximately $58 billion frozen assets represent property, yachts, civil aircraft and other materials owned by well-known Russians.
After President Donald Trump began talks with Russia earlier this month, he was not involved with either Europeans or Ukraine – European leaders began I'm talking About sitting at the table using a huge share of frozen Russian assets as leverage.
One proposal was to completely seize Russian money and use it to replace American financial support for the war in Ukraine, or simply fund Ukrainians both military efforts and postwar reconstruction.
Stronger members of the European Union are reluctant to take this step as they will lose all leverage in Russia, and, given the large amounts, could risk unlocking the chaos of the international financial system.
Generally speaking, Eastern European leaders are Most enthusiastic To hand over Russian billions to Ukraine as President Trump is moving away from Europe and changing his stance. Germany, France, Italy and others may say they are strict about liquidating Russian assets, but I am personally nervous that such a move could cause international investors to panic and destroy faith in the European banking system.
European Commission I said Last week, the Foreign Minister will begin negotiations on March 24 to establish an “International Claims Committee” that evaluates claims against Russian assets and calculates the amount that Russian money should be settled to pay those claims.
The Russians have Not completely rejected The idea of using some of the frozen cash reserves to rebuild Ukraine will be spent reconstructing about 20% of the territory of Ukraine, which Russia currently controls, and will continue its control.
Lavrov's intense remarks about “the way of thief” coincides with how Moscow has spoken about its frozen assets up until now. December, Russians Condemnation He threatened to retaliate $20 billion in frozen funds to Ukraine as “simply robberies” and seizure Western assets in Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the outgoing Biden administration of “accuse of indulging in a lostphobia frenzy in order to introduce as many anti-Russian sanctions as possible before handing over power to Donald Trump's team.
“There is no pseudo-legal conspiracy richly seasoned with hypocrisy and double standards,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thundered.
