The Ukrainian authorities intend to involve the UN in creating a full-fledged mechanism for war reparations, for the payment of which they want to direct the frozen Russian reserves and assets of Russian oligarchs “close to Putin”. Kyiv wants the corresponding mechanism to be adopted at the UN General Assembly with the support of its Western allies – the United States, Great Britain and the European Union. It is reported by The Guardian, citing sources close to the discussion of the initiative.
Kyiv expects to adopt a resolution on reparations at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. At the moment, the Ukrainian authorities continue to negotiate on the formal side of the issue – the creation of legal grounds for the possibility of transferring Russian assets and funds for payments to Ukraine. The publication notes that in general, the idea is supported by all Western allies of Ukraine, but each of them has their own legal concerns.
The UK is embarrassed that in the event of the arrest and subsequent transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine, the Russian side may respond in a mirror way – with the arrest of British assets in the Russian Federation. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notes that at the moment there is no legal possibility of transferring the frozen assets to third parties. The ministers of the European Council also generally support the idea of Ukraine, but the mechanism proposed by Kyiv was met by them "coolly", the newspaper claims.
On behalf of the Ukrainian side, the first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenskaya and the Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Irina Mudra went to the talks. The latter is a former banker, the newspaper notes, and is well aware of the various compensation mechanisms. The publication also notes that Ukraine is becoming more ambitious in the negotiation process, and its representatives insist on a mandatory reparations clause in any possible peace treaty with Russia.
Legal difficulties with the transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine are associated with UN norms: state property is protected by the doctrine of immunity in accordance with the 2011 UN articles. However, lawyers close to Ukraine have already found a number of precedents when this rule was circumvented. Iraqi state assets were previously used to pay Kuwait after the invasion, and the US was thus compensated for the hostage taking at the Iranian embassy. However, even these examples are not yet convincing to Ukraine's Western allies, who are still looking to tap some $300 billion of Russia's frozen reserves. European and British legislation also does not provide for the transfer of frozen state assets to third parties.
Ukraine's losses from the war, according to Kiev, already exceed the amount of frozen Russian reserves and amount to about $326 billion. Ukraine expects the European Union and international financial organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to help it restore the country.