Britain prepared to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian assets in UK – Cameron

Britain is prepared to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian central bank assets in the UK on the basis that Russia will be forced to pay reparations to Ukraine at the end of the war.

That's according to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Ukrinform reports, citing The Guardian.

He said the assets would be used as surety for the payment of the reparations.

"There is an opportunity to use something like a syndicated loan or a bond that effectively uses the frozen Russian assets as a surety to give that money to the Ukrainians knowing that we will recoup it when reparations are paid by Russia. That may be a better way of doing it. We are aiming for the maximum amount of G7 and EU unity on this but if we cannot get it I think we will have to move ahead with allies that want to take this action," Cameron told peers on Tuesday night.

The minister added he did not think the bond plan would undermine the reputation of the City of London in any way.

The EU estimates around EUR 260 billion in Central Bank of Russia assets have been immobilized in the form of securities and cash in the jurisdictions of the G7 partners, the EU and Australia, with more than two-thirds of those immobilized in the EU.

U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker believes that the seizure of Russian assets will require a collective decision of all countries that have frozen Russian funds in their financial institutions, and will take time.

The International Monetary Fund, in turn, believes that decisions on the confiscation of Russian assets should be made by the countries where the frozen funds are located, and it is monitoring the discussions to assess the possible impact of such decisions on the international financial system.