30 – #MakeRussiaPay – The Strategic Necessity of Seizing Russian Assets for Ukraine’s Victory

BerlinsideOut

In part two of BerlinsideOut’s ‘Pillars of Victory’ special – Ben and Aaron go from the front lines to the back rooms – to discuss the necessity of confiscating $300 billion in frozen Russian state assets to help fund both Ukraine’s victory and to hold Russia accountable for Ukraine’s reconstruction. They hear from an international panel of guests on why seizing Russia’s assets is legal and economically feasible – and discuss how doing so would demonstrate strategic resolve. Yet, despite the clear case for making Russia pay for its crimes through the seizure of state assets – Germany remains reluctant to do so. Ben and Aaron also discuss the strategic pitfalls such a failure would bring – and the need for politicians to stand up and make sure that doesn’t happen.

Guests:

• Robin Wagener, MdB and Chair of the German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Friendship Group (@robinwagener)
• Halyna Yanchenko, Member of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine (@HalynaYanchenko)
• Senator Ratna Omidvar, Independent Canadian Senator for Ontario (@ratnaomi)
• Yuliya Ziskina, Senior Legal Fellow at Razom for Ukraine (@jziskina)

Resources:

• Seizing Russian Assets is Legal and Strategically Imperative, Aaron Gasch Burnett & Yuliya Ziskina, European Resilience Initiative Center
• No more excuses: Debunking arguments against seizing Russian state assets for Ukraine, Yuliya Ziskina, Jamison Firestone & Tetyana Nesterchuk, European Policy Centre
• A structured, predictable, and transparent approach to seizing Russian state assets to help Ukraine, Senator Ratna Omidvar, The Hill Times
• On Russian assets, Canada throws away a clear chance to lead, Aaron Gasch Burnett, MacDonald-Laurier Institute
• So soll Putin für Ukraine-Wiederaufbau blechen, Julian Röpcke featuring comment Aaron Gasch Burnett & Wolfgang Stefinger, MdB, Bild (in German)
• Wir müssen die Ukraine noch viel mehr stärken, Sebastian Schäfer, MdB & Jamila Schäfer, MdB Handelsblatt (in German)
• Seizing Russian Assets: Too Little, But Not Too Late, Patrick Heinemann, Zentrum Liberale Moderne
• On Proposed Countermeasures Against Russia to Compensate Injured States for Losses Caused by Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine, Nigel Gould-Davies, International Institute for Strategic Studies
• Die europäische Angst, russiche Vermögen zu beschlagnahmen – und was dahintersteckt, Die Welt (in German), Tim Daldrup featuring comment from Robin Wagener, MdB
• International Centre for Ukrainian Victory, Confiscation of Russian Assets

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