One step closer to reparations: what opportunities and challenges does the G7 decision on Russian assets create?

One of the key topics of support for Ukraine in 2024 was the confiscation of the frozen reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. “Ukraine has not yet seen a tangible result from the use of frozen assets of Russian terrorists… to be honest and fair, we need powerful legislative steps at the EU level,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a meeting with the President of Lithuania in January this year. Eventually, this step was taken. The EU’s decision to transfer interest in Russian assets to Ukraine was the step that the President of Ukraine had been talking about. However, the 3–5 billion euros a year that Ukraine could receive under this model is obviously only a small amount compared to the total amount of frozen Russian assets, which is $300 billion. Advertisement: Therefore, the issue of their confiscation has not yet been resolved. Although many difficult decisions still need to be made to implement it, the Group of Seven made an important step in this direction at its last summit in Italy, following the EU. Guarantees for Europe Although the topic of confiscation of Russian assets has been discussed since the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, alternative...