BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- The
European Union should consider seizing frozen Russian foreign exchange reserves to help pay for the cost of rebuilding Ukraine after the war, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in an interview with the Financial Times.
The EU and its western allies have put curbs on the Russian central bank’s international reserves since the country began its invasion of Ukraine, actions Moscow describes as a “special military operation”.
Borrell told the newspaper it would be logical for the EU to do what the United States did with Afghanistan’s central bank assets after the Taliban took that country over.
“We have the money in our pockets, and someone has to explain to me why it is good for the Afghan money and not good for the Russian money,” Borrell said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Borrell’s initiative amounted to “complete lawlessness” and said it would hurt Europe if adopted.
“They (the measures) will deal a blow to Europeans themselves, the modern financial system, and will undermine trust in Europe and in the West overall,” RIA news agency quoted Grushko as saying on Monday.
Russia’s most senior lawmaker said last week that Moscow should confiscate property owned by Westerners in response to a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden to transfer the frozen assets of Russia’s elite to Ukraine.
Russia’s Feb. 24 operation in Ukraine prompted Western nations to impose the most severe sanctions in modern history on Russia and Moscow’s business elite, steps President Vladimir Putin has cast as a declaration of economic war.
A Maltese-flagged ship carrying Russian coal and petroleum coke has docked in the northern Spanish port of Gijon, port authorities said on Monday.
Another Maltese-flagged ship, loaded with Russian crude, docked in Cartagena, southern Spain, on Friday, authorities confirmed.
The European Union approved sanctions against imports of coal, wood, chemicals and other products from Russia on April 8 in a bid to cut trade, although the sanctions are not yet fully enforced.
On April 27, another Maltese-flagged vessel tried to enter the Port of Barcelona but was denied access because it was carrying cargo transferred from a Russian ship under sanctions, Spain’s Transport Ministry said in a statement at the time.
A spokesperson at the Spanish ministry did was not immediately able to respond to a request for comment.