The British government has introduced a legislation to allow it to keep sanctions against Russia in place by keeping the country’s assets frozen until Moscow pays compensation to Ukraine for its invasion.
The new legislation introduced on Monday will allow the British government to maintain sanctions by amending the purposes of the Russia sanctions, as the legislation will provide that sanctions can be used for promoting the payment of compensation by the Putin-led Russian government.
The British Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, said that “As Ukraine continues to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, the terrible impacts of Putin’s war are clear. Ukraine’s reconstruction needs are, and will be immense.
“Through our new measures today, we’re strengthening the UK’s sanctions approach, affirming that the UK is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked.”
The British government reportedly said that sanctioned Russians who say they support Ukraine will now have a new way to donate their frozen funds for Ukrainian reconstruction.
A statement by the government reportedly stated that “This will be a voluntary process whereby sanctioned individuals may apply for funds to be released for the express purpose of supporting Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. There will be no coercion of individuals to encourage them to transfer funds, nor any offer of sanctions relief in return for making a donation.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Britain has frozen more than 18 billion pounds (23 billion U.S. dollars) in assets and sanctioned over 1,550 Russian individuals, including Roman Abramovich, former owner of Chelsea Football Club.
The Guardian UK quoted the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, as stating that “Russia must be held accountable, including for damage suffered by Ukraine and its people. We are therefore proud that the seat of the register of damage will be in The Hague, the legal capital of the world.”
Rutte added that “We can freeze the assets as leverage – that is what international law defines as a countermeasure. The idea is that you breach the law causing pain to the wrong-doing state until they comply, so you can keep those measures in place, so long they are proportionate.”