RIO-DE-JANEIRO, February 27. /TASS/. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argues that the Western coalition urgently needs to find a way to channel seized Russian assets to Ukraine's needs.
"I also believe it's necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these mobilized assets to support Ukraine's continued resistance and long-term reconstruction," Yellen said at a press conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the eve of a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 countries.
The US Treasury Secretary clarified that it concerns frozen assets of the Russian Federation in the amount of $285 bln. She argued that limiting Russia’s access to funds and resources "would incentivize it [Moscow] to come to the table to negotiate a just peace with Ukraine."
Yellen called the EU Council's approval of a resolution that would legalize the storage and use of proceeds from Russia's frozen assets an "important first step." According to her, the confiscation of these assets would be a "decisive response" to the "unprecedented threat to global stability" allegedly emanating from Russia.
In November 8, 2023, US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs James O'Brien argued that the collective West will not give the frozen assets worth about $300 bln back to Russia until Moscow pays for the special military operation in Ukraine.
Chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina stressed on the same day that the confiscation and freezing of Russian assets by the West would "have, as a precedent, negative consequences for the overall development of the global financial system."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that Moscow intends to challenge Western steps of this kind. As he explained, this will entail "very serious judicial and legal costs for those who make such decisions and who take advantage of such decisions." Russia will begin to work out response measures that are unlikely to be tit for tat ones, the Kremlin official added.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, warned in early December 2023 about the potential risks to global financial stability and monetary policy if the West confiscates Russian assets frozen abroad after the start of the special military operation. She stressed that the use of these holdings would have to be based on an international basis. According to her, it is necessary to very carefully consider what the risks could be for monetary policy and financial stability.