Senior Diplomat Blasts Borrell’s Idea On Seizing Russian Reserves To Rebuild Ukraine

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s proposal on seizing Russia’s frozen foreign exchange reserves and using them for rebuilding Ukraine is an unlawful act that undermines trust in Europe, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters on Monday.

“This is the destruction of the mere foundation of international relations, and these decisions, should they be taken, will hit the Europeans themselves, the financial system and will undermine trust in Europe and in the West in general because this is an absolutely unlawful act and more like the law of the jungle,” Grushko said.

“So, a huge number of states jointly with Russia will stand up to defend world order based on international law,” the senior diplomat stressed.

Earlier on Monday, Borrell offered the EU states to consider seizing Russia’s frozen foreign exchange reserves to help fund the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said earlier that as a result of Western sanctions, about $300 billion of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves had been frozen.

After the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions against the Bank of Russia. In addition to freezing the gold and foreign exchange reserves, the West banned all transactions related to the management of reserves, assets of the Bank of Russia, transactions with any legal entity acting on behalf or by the order of the regulator.