British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that there is every reason for the frozen Russian assets to be used to help rebuild Ukraine.
He said this during a speech at a panel discussion on the war in Ukraine, The Guardian reports.
The Foreign Minister noted that the countries supporting Ukraine have a combined GDP 25 times higher than Russia's.
"We just have to make sure that our support becomes more significant," Cameron said.
He argues that if you zoom out and look at the big picture, the war in Ukraine has been a disaster for Putin.
Russia has lost half of the territory it seized at the beginning of the war and has been sanctioned by a large part of the world economy.
Cameron also pointed to Ukraine's progress in the Black Sea – thanks to the establishment of humanitarian corridors, Ukraine is once again trading through its ports with the world.
Cameron emphasized that "Ukraine has done and is doing well," so the priority is to help Ukraine get through this winter and create a system that will allow Ukraine to win a war that will be long.
Cameron was asked whether it would be legal to use Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine.
He noted that the assets have already been frozen; the question is what we do with them next.
Legally, Cameron said, there is growing support for the idea that these resources can be used in some way.
From a moral point of view, the minister noted, Russia will have to pay reparations when the war is over, so why not use these assets now?
And the political aspect is that when Putin launched this illegal invasion, the world changed, and we have to change with it, Lord Cameron emphasized.
According to him, we now live in a more uncertain world, so we need innovative thinking.
He adds that he is "certainly working very hard" on this issue, as are the rest of the G7 members, and he is confident that progress will be made.
Background. Speaking in Davos, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that by invading Ukraine, Putin "accomplished virtually everything he tried to prevent."