NEW YORK, May 8. /TASS/. Commenting on the West’s plans to use Russian assets for helping Ukraine, Deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath reminded these countries about the need to guarantee that their actions have sufficient legal underpinnings.

Adhering to existing legal frameworks is also critical for maintaining trust between countries and in the international monetary system. For example, many countries are following closely the ongoing discussion about potential use of Russian state assets, including reserves of the Bank of Russia, to support Ukraine. While this is for relevant courts and jurisdictions to determine, for the IMF, it is important that any action has sufficient legal underpinnings and does not undermine the functioning of the international monetary system," she said at the Stanford University (California).

She added that rebuilding mutual trust among countries requires a lot of time and effort and called for preserving "some of the enormous gains from economic integration".