Lhe American president Donald Trump gives all the signs he wants to put an end to the Ukraine War. At the risk of no longer wanting to finance weapons for kyiv. Europeans know that Ukraine will still need to defend himself and that they may be alone in carrying out the effort. How could they then have to strengthen their own defense and that most of them know budgetary difficulties?
However, there is a track: to use the $ 300 billion [environ 256 milliards d’euros] frozen Russian assets, of which around 210 billion euros are in the European Union. It is true that a pure and simple confiscation is politically impossible, because many countries, including France, have legal reluctance. They also fear destabilization of the euro.
Fortunately, another solution exists and it is legally solid: a “repair loan”. It is a question of using the assets of Russia against itself by lending them to Ukraine. Moscow would only recover her funds if she paid repairs. This loan would actually constitute an advance on the Kremlin’s obligation to pay war damage.
This idea is based on the appeal launched by the United Nations General Assembly in favor of repairs paid by Russia. In response, representatives of more than 50 states, including France, as well as the European Union, launched the project of a complaint commission for Ukraine. Jurists agree that Russia will have to pay war damage. But it will take years before the Commission makes its decision, while kyiv needs liquidity now. A repair loan would overcome this discrepancy.
In no way a confiscation
How ? First, European countries and other voluntary countries would ask current depositaries of assets, including the Belgian Euroclear, to transfer funds to an ad hoc legal structure. The funds would be used for a repair loan in Ukraine. kyiv should only reimburse this loan if Moscow paid war damage. The United States would be invited to join the system, but its participation is not crucial because it did not frozen $ 5 billion in Russian assets.
You have 57.78% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
