Seizing Russian Assets
Adrian Karatnycky has 2 articles highlighting how Europe and Trump can seize Russian assets to pay for arming and rebuilding Ukraine.
Adrian is a long-time specialist on Ukraine. He is author of the recent book Battleground Ukraine which is indispensable for understanding Ukraine from Independence to the full-scale invasion. No other book has as much inside knowledge on Ukraine’s politicians.
WSJ: How Trump can helo Ukraine Win
FP: Russian Frozen Assets are Europe’s Trump Card.
The articles are both focused on seizing the $300bln in Russian assets held in Europe. The shorter WSJ article is more focused on what Trump and America should do, while the longer FP article highlights what Europe needs to do.
WSJ: There is another Trumpian path that could both finance Ukraine’s war effort and reduce U.S. contributions to it. This path requires mobilizing the $300 billion in Russian hard currency in Western banks, most of it at Euroclear, an international clearing and settlement service in Belgium.
FP: One clear solution to compensate for a deep reduction in U.S. financial support rests in the roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian hard currency reserves held in Western banks, the bulk of which is held by European financial institutions.
Both articles highlight how seizing Russian assets strengthen Ukraine and force Russia to stop this brutal war.