US froze Russian assets worth $8 billion, most of them in EU and Japan

The United States of America has frozen $8 billion worth of Russian sovereign assets, most of which are in the EU and Japan.

This was stated by US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, Penny Pritzker, RBC-Ukraine reports citing the Financial Times.

Western countries have reportedly frozen $300 billion worth of Russian assets in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, according to Pritzker, the United States froze Russian sovereign assets worth $8 billion, most of which are in the EU and Japan.

It is noted that some countries have called for this money to be used to rebuild Ukraine, but other stakeholders, including the European Central Bank, have expressed reservations about the legality and consequences of such a step.

Pritzker said that legal teams are doing "extraordinary work to understand what can be done with these assets".

"In fact, if I say not from a legal point of view, but from an ethical and moral point of view, given the destruction that the Russians have caused in Ukraine, you know, they should help rebuild Ukraine. Legally, how to do that is something that we are working on right now," the U.S. Special Representative said.

As a reminder, Ukraine, together with its international partners, is working to create an opportunity to confiscate frozen Russian assets, including state assets, in allied countries. These funds should be used to rebuild Ukraine. We are talking about almost $500 million.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 28/09/2023