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Berlin may seize frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine if allies follow suit — Bloomberg

According to the news agency’s sources, Berlin "is open to using billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine rebuild as long as legal issues can be resolved and allies follow suit"

NEW YORK, January 3. /TASS/. Germany considers the possibility of using the frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine once allies follow suit, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday citing sources.

As the news agency said, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government "supports Ukraine’s demand for war reparations but hasn’t yet taken an official position on seizing assets from the Russian state."

According to the news agency’s sources, Berlin "is open to using billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine rebuild as long as legal issues can be resolved and allies follow suit."

Bloomberg said citing "officials familiar with the discussions" that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock "wants Russia to pay for the damages caused in Ukraine" and insists that "seizing at least some of the frozen assets needs to be an option."

However, Finance Minister Christian Lindner "is more cautious," as he believes that potential confiscation of the assets of Russia’s Central Bank "could create a dangerous precedent" and result in legal problems for European nations and their allies.

The DPA news agency reported in mid-December, citing the German government’s statistics, that Berlin had frozen the assets of Russian individuals and entities targeted by European sanctions to the tune of 5.046 billion euros. In particular, the frozen financial assets amount to slightly more than 2.2 billion euros and nearly 1.1 billion accounts for movable property.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. In retaliation, the West has slapped sweeping sanctions on Moscow.