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Swiss foreign minister does not rule out using Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction

"We should search for solutions compliant with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Let’s not forget that the ownership right is a human right," Ignazio Cassis emphasized

Head of the FDFA Ignazio Cassis AP Photo/John Minchillo

Head of the FDFA Ignazio Cassis

© AP Photo/John Minchillo

GENEVA, January 19. /TASS/. Switzerland is not ruling out using Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction, though such a step has no sufficient legal basis now, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) Ignazio Cassis said in an interview with Swiss radio and television released on Thursday.

"It (using frozen Russian assets - TASS) cannot be fully ruled out, this being an important financial source. The aggressor should remove the losses incurred, this principle remaining in force. However, it is necessary to act within the legal framework. At the moment there is no legislative framework in Switzerland to confiscate the frozen funds," the politician said.

The issue is currently on the agenda "in almost all European countries and in many other states," he noted. "We should search for solutions compliant with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Let’s not forget that the ownership right is a human right," Cassis emphasized.

The topic is currently being discussed at the UN, he said, adding that Switzerland is also in contact with the EU and G7 states.

President of the European Council Charles Michel said last December that the European Union was working on a legal framework to allow Brussels to officially confiscate the Russian assets frozen under sanctions and use them for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Estonia plans to introduce a legal blueprint for seizing Russian assets by the end of January.

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