The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called for the use of Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. This was reported by a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, Ukrainian MP Yevheniya Kravchuk.
On 16 April, the PACE unanimously voted in favour of a resolution to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, addressed the debate.
What the resolution provides for:
- Establishment of an international compensation mechanism under the auspices of the Council of Europe to comprehensively compensate for the damage caused to individuals and legal entities, including Ukraine, as a result of the Russian aggression;
- active cooperation of states in the speedy transfer of Russia's existing assets to the established international compensation mechanism;
- Establishment of an international trust fund to which all Russian state assets will be transferred for safekeeping;
- Establishment of an impartial and effective international commission to examine claims filed by Ukraine and affected entities, as well as individuals and legal entities, seeking compensation for damages caused by the Russian aggression.
According to Kravchuk, the PACE also supported a number of important amendments on the issue of compensation. In particular
- calling on Council of Europe member states and non-member states to join the Register of Losses if they have not yet done so;
- a proposal to member states to include in the scope of the future international compensation mechanism the consequences caused by Russia even before the full-scale invasion - starting with the aggression in 2014.
The PACE also recognised that Russian politicians, propagandists, oligarchs and other collaborators in the war have amassed significant wealth through their close ties to the Vladimir Putin regime. "To ensure the personal responsibility of such persons, their assets should be frozen, confiscated and used to rebuild Ukraine. Member States are encouraged to develop legislation and legal mechanisms for the confiscation of these assets," the MP added.
The Assembly noted that a number of states have frozen around $300 billion of Russian state assets. The PACE noted that these states should cooperate and hand them over to the international compensation mechanism.
"It is important that such steps are absolutely legitimate. Under international law, states have the right to take countermeasures against a state that has seriously violated international law. It is time for the Council of Europe to move from sanctions to countermeasures against the Russian aggressor," the MP stressed.