The Group of Seven countries have agreed to return frozen assets to russia, but only after the war in Ukraine ends and moscow agrees to pay reparations.
"russia's sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until the conflict related to russia's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity is resolved," the G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement after a meeting in Japan.
The statement emphasizes that any settlement of the conflict "must ensure that russia pays for the damage it has caused."
At the same time, while the war continues, the G7 countries plan to strengthen sanctions against russia and prevent third countries from "undermining" the existing restrictions.
In particular, the countries of the group intend to strengthen coordination "to prevent and respond to the supply of weapons to russia by third parties". In this regard, the G7 called on other states to "stop helping russia."
Due to the invasion of Ukraine and sanctions, russia has lost access to almost half of its foreign exchange reserves. Of the $640 billion in reserves, about $300 billion were unavailable.
Throughout the year, the West has been exploring various options for dealing with frozen russian assets. The possibility of their confiscation and subsequent transfer to Ukraine was also considered.
However, the European Commission concluded that, despite the "political will," legally, russian assets cannot be simply transferred to Kyiv and will have to be returned to moscow. Moreover, they are held in many accounts that are difficult to link to the russian Central Bank.
The United States continues to consider the possibility of using russia's reserves to rebuild Ukraine, said Victoria Nuland, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
"We're working to get russia to help pay for rebuilding what's been destroyed," she said.
Background. The G7 countries shamed Switzerland for not doing enough to combat loopholes in sanctions against russia.