G7 nations talk options for handing Russia’s frozen assets to Ukraine

The Group of Seven nations is discussing ways to transfer to Ukraine Russian assets frozen in foreign jurisdictions.

That’s according to The Japan Times, Ukrinform reports.

"The Group of Seven is discussing ways of transferring to Ukraine the Russian assets seized following the invasion by Moscow, with legal complexities and domestic restrictions making it difficult to do the transfers," a source familiar with the discussion said.

According to JT, one of the approaches discussed at the meeting is to target the income generated from those assets, as a means of bypassing some legal hurdles.

A key factor is the U.S. announcement that it first authorized the transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine, which led to certain shifts in the process.

“While this represents the United States’ first transfer of forfeited Russian funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine … it will not be the last,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday.

The joint REPO task force, consisting of finance, justice, trade, and home affairs ministers and European commissioners, has already frozen or blocked more than $58 billion worth of Russian assets. The REPO comprises G7 nations, Australia, and the EU.

A meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors is said to conclude on Saturday, but sanctions on Russia are expected to be a key topic of discussion at the G7 summit in Hiroshima next week.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Jacob Kierkegaard, a senior researcher at the German Marshall Fund, stated during public hearings at the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee that, provided adequate financial assistance is received, economic growth in Ukraine within 10 years after the end of the war will surpass that of China and other developing markets.