We Can Force Russia to Fund Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, analyst says

While the necessity of supporting Ukraine, at all costs, should be obvious to all (it’s the best long-term investment the West can make against an expansionist Russia), it is a hard sell to electorates. But there is another way of doing this — we can make Putin pay. Even the populists in Europe and the U.S. would struggle to argue with that.

The West holds $400bn of Russian assets, either frozen or immobilized For comparison, all Western aid so far, including financial, humanitarian, and military, totals about $350bn.

0x815,

Nobel prize winner Oleksandra Matviychuk: Legal mechanisms needed to use Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine recovery

“> One and a half trillion rubles has been frozen abroad – these are Russian state assets. We need to find legal mechanisms, ways to use these money and direct it to the restoration of Ukraine. And it’s not only about the need to restore, but also to modernize the country,” Matviychuk said.

She also emphasized that now it is necessary to talk about reconstruction during the ongoing war, not post-war efforts. After all, no one knows whether this is the final stage of the war or its mid-phase. It is important to convey the message to international partners that Ukraine needs recovery now. It is necessary to draw up development strategies and implement them for local communities.

IWantToFuckSpez,

Good. As long as we don’t create a Treaty of Versaille 2 situation and bankrupt New Russia into despair. Let’s not forget what happened after WW1. If Putin’s regime falls and Russia truly wants to become democratic nation we should also support that.

bouh,

I agree with that but I’m not optimistic. Kremlin propaganda is already as stupid as it can be and most economic ties have been cut already. Should Russia be forgiven the destructions in Ukraine? It is a tough decision.

0x815,

It’s the Russian government and the circles around it that are committing the crimes, not Russia. There are Russian people supporting the Kremlin, but by far not all of them. It is a tough decision whatever is done after this war ends, but there is no alternative than to build a democracy not only in Ukraine but also in Russia imo.

bouh,

None other than the Russians can build their own democracy. No one can do it for themselves. And it will not happen while Puttin lives.

Most of the money in Russia is already in the hands of their oligarchs. They’re already blaming everything on the west. A heavy debt would obviously fall on the shoulders of the people, which is not desirable, but they will hate the west regardless of this debt, and the difference will only be whether Ukraine is rebuilt by russian money or western money.

0x815,

As an additional detail, Putin apparently did all he could to avoid seizures at least of his personal assets as he ordered to move superyacht from a German shipyard to Russia just weeks before he ordered the invasion of Ukraine:

A Russian anti-corruption organisation set up by the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny claims emails show that the Russian president ordered the urgent moving of the 82-metre superyacht, called Graceful, from a shipyard in Hamburg, where it was undergoing a $32m refit […]

Photos show the ship being towed out of Hamburg on 7 February en route to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad […]

[…] on 22 February – Putin ordered the full-blown invasion of Ukraine. After the invasion, the US, UK and EU imposed sanctions on Russian-owned assets overseas, and dozens of oligarch-owned superyachts were seized across the world.

alvvayson,

I think it would be better to hold the $400bn as a carrot for Russia to elect a democratic government and get a Marshall plan like deal.

Funding the Ukranian rebuild should not be dependent on Russian funds, but can easily be paid for by private capital and EU funds as Ukraine joins NATO and the EU.

And in terms of our American and European electorate, since when do we let the lowest IQ quintile dictate our policies.

Burn_The_Right,

I do not think simply holding the assets will be enough. The owners of the seized assets have already responded by doing nothing.

I think we should start very slowly (but loudly) spending the seized assets to fund Ukraine. As luxury yachts start getting auctioned off for ammo crates, I think the oligarchs will become the most motivated they can be. If they still don’t act, then they should lose those assets anyway. Fuck 'em.

alvvayson,

Definitely start auctioning off those stuff for cash.

And also agree that symbolic actions should be taken.

However, if we just transfer the money to Ukraine, there is a real risk that 10 years down the line the courts will rule against the transfer. And then the EU will be on the hook to compensate Russian oligarchs.

Whereas if they are transferred to a democratic Russia, then Russian courts will have jurisdiction over the property of Russian citizens, which is much less likely to backfire.

statist43,

This is the way, just because of some crazy “president” you shouldnt fuck the people, and this is a good way to “grab 'em by the balls” I mean the oligarchs

Burn_The_Right,

Hell yeah! Vlad Puta likes to buy U.S. Republican politicians. Some of his purchased goons have now managed to interrupt U.S. funding for Ukraine. So, now Puta (and his oligarchs) should fucking cover the bill.

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