U.S. says there is legal route to seize Russian assets for Ukraine - FT
That's according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which cites the Financial Times.
Although Washington has never publicly backed confiscation, the United States has privately taken a more assertive stance in recent weeks, arguing in G7 committees that there is a route to seizing the assets "consistent with international law."
"G7 members and other specially affected states could seize Russian sovereign assets as a countermeasure to induce Russia to end its aggression," said a U.S. government discussion paper, seen by the Financial Times.
A U.S. official said Washington was engaged in active conversations on the use of Russian sovereign assets and believed there was a short timeline to make a decision. They suggested it could be discussed at a possible G7 leaders' meeting to coincide with the second anniversary in February of Russia's full invasion of Ukraine.
The paper writes that the push comes as two crucial financial aid packages for Ukraine worth more than $100 billion faltered this week, as Republicans in the U.S. Congress and Viktor Orban of EU member Hungary took a stand against funding Kyiv.
