Ukraine seeks to seize Russia’s assets for post-conflict recovery: PM

Kiev, Ukraine | Xinhua | Kiev is willing to seize Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s post-conflict recovery, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday.

“The funds of the Russian government and oligarchs will be one of the main sources for filling the Fund for the Reconstruction of our country,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine is in talks with the countries of the Group of Seven over the seizure of Russia’s assets, Shmyhal said, adding that Canada has already prepared legislation for such actions.

Earlier, Shmyhal said that his cabinet has set up a recovery fund for Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction and estimated that the country’s full-scale recovery will cost around 600 billion U.S. dollars.

Russia has over 600 billion U.S. dollars worth of foreign currency reserves held in dollars, gold and other currencies, with about half of them believed to be frozen by the restrictions imposed by Western governments on its central bank.

The head of Russia’s central bank has said it was preparing to take legal action to challenge the freeze.

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Xinhua