Beware basing Russian reparations on vengeance

Russia’s behaviour represents the most flagrant breaking of international law in a generation – if not longer. It has provoked justified anger at the wanton and unprovoked destruction that Russia has inflicted on Ukraine. There will be a pressing need for reconstruction in Ukraine once the war is over. And there is something neat about saying: ‘we have some $300bn of Russian reserves in western instruments, let’s use that’. There is also a sense of fairness to this. But neatness and fairness are not enough, especially as what we might consider ‘fair’ will be seen differently by others (and not just Russia). It smacks too much of victor’s justice, verging on vengeance. And if it is not agreed with Russia as part of the comprehensive treaty to end hostilities it will not only be seen by Moscow as theft, it will be theft. It is not enough to say, as some commentators do, ‘Russia has broken the law, and should forfeit the right to be protected by the law’ – we moved on from treating criminals as outlaws (literally, ‘those outside the protection of the law’) in medieval times. Sentiments like ‘it makes little sense to protect Russian property when...