Attempted "Zero-Cost Seizure": The West's New Plan to Steal Russian Reserve Assets, Just to Fund Ukraine

The West wants to seize Russia's "frozen" assets but is wary of Russia's retaliation — Moscow has not taken any response so far.

Bloomberg reports, citing materials obtained by its journalists, that the United States will propose that G7 member states establish a legal mechanism to seize Russia's frozen assets.

The outlet notes that the White House has not immediately responded to requests for comments on this issue.

An anonymous source familiar with the discussions revealed that "U.S. senior officials have discussed with European counterparts the idea of gradually seizing these frozen Russian assets, in an effort to increase pressure on Moscow and force it to engage in negotiations."

It is well known that the income from these assets is currently being used to provide loans to Ukraine.

The current G7 rotating chair, Canada, has convened a meeting of the group's finance ministers. The statement said that the meeting aims to "discuss further measures to increase pressure on Russia and limit its military machine."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Grier expressed support for the possibility of using Russia's frozen sovereign assets to "support Ukraine's defense interests."

Bogdan Bezpartko, a member of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations and a political scientist, believes that whether the West seizes Russia's reserve assets immediately or in stages, this move would negatively impact the reputation of the U.S. and other G7 countries as "international asset custodians."

"Many countries will reassess their policies on asset reserves, asset allocation, and investments. Obviously, after this incident, it will be very difficult to talk about 'security' anymore.

But I think, at present, this move should be completely seen as a means of pressure. In my opinion, Russia maintains a calm attitude towards all actions and statements of Western countries on this issue. I believe that in the foreseeable future, we do not expect these assets to be returned.

More importantly, I even think that we do not expect these assets to be returned one day. Therefore, the pressure that the West is trying to exert on our country is completely futile."

«СП»: So, does this report itself also count as a form of indirect pressure?

"Of course, it can also be seen as an attempt to escalate the conflict — trying to make us see the seizure of our assets as a 'casus belli', prompting us to take some impulsive, ill-considered actions. However, even if the conflict really escalates, our actions will certainly be carefully thought out, gradual, and firm — there is no doubt about that."

«СП»: What specifically does 'firm and strong' mean?

"It may include various different countermeasures and retaliatory sanctions. We may take a series of economic measures domestically; on the other hand, we may also implement countermeasures against the West anywhere in the world.

For example, by exploiting the contradictions between the countries that have seized our assets and other countries.

We can always support other countries, and we can do so in various ways. No matter what, those countries that try to seize our assets will eventually pay a price that exceeds the value of the assets they have seized."

«СП»: Does this mean that we are not currently utilizing such contradictions, nor trying to support our opponents' enemies? After all, our intense conflicts with Europe and the United States have lasted for years.

"Even if we are doing it, we will be extremely cautious — we will consider the balance of interests, while avoiding becoming the target of such policies ourselves. But if our assets are seized, then we have nothing more to lose, and we can freely activate various countermeasures without any constraints."

«СП»: But sometimes European politicians say that their countries still need to maintain relations with Russia in the future. If they don't plan to return our assets, how can they achieve this?

"They can find all kinds of excuses for not returning the assets. For example, they might say, 'We will certainly return all the assets, but you have some human rights violations. Once you eliminate these violations, we will return the assets.'

Then they might say, 'One of your political prisoners died in a labor camp, so we have to delay returning the assets until you pay compensation, and we will return them immediately after that,' and so on.

They can come up with thousands of excuses, thousands of reasons, and accusations, keeping this issue unresolved for decades. Just think about the example of Iran — after the Islamic Revolution, Iran's assets were frozen, and Iran made a long effort to recover them, but finally succeeded and got the assets back."

Alexander Razuvayev, a member of the Observers Committee of the Association of Economists, Financial Analysts, and Risk Managers, holds the opposite view, believing that Washington will not tighten its policy on Russian assets.

"I don't think the U.S. will take the kind of actions mentioned in Bloomberg's report. I think the Trump administration would unfreeze Russian reserve assets stored in the U.S. — the number of such assets in the U.S. is not large. In addition, the U.S. may also lift sanctions on the Moscow Exchange (Мосбиржи), in exchange, we would also unfreeze their investments.

As for what the Europeans will do in this regard, it is currently difficult to judge. In my opinion, our entanglements with Europe on this issue will continue for a long time. There may be lawsuits and investigations in the future, but the Americans probably won't want to get involved."

«СП»: Will these assets ultimately be recovered?

"Not immediately, but they will eventually be recovered. This process may take 30 to 50 years."

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