The £235billion ($300billion) of Russian assets, which have been frozen in Europe since the war in Ukraine began, would cover 80 per cent of the costs of Ukraine’s reconstruction, the country’s foreign minister has said.
Dmytro Kuleba told Spanish newspaper El Pais: “It makes sense that Russia should pay.
“It will happen 100 per cent,” he said. “The question is to what extent it will happen because there are three elements to it: the frozen assets themselves, the revenues on the assets, and taxation on those revenues.
“But it will happen because it makes sense that Russia should pay. And there are enough frozen assets to tackle the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“We estimate that the total amount of frozen assets is equivalent to more than 80 per cent of our reconstruction demand.
“We can rebuild schools, we can rebuild hospitals, we can rebuild infrastructure at the expense of the country that destroyed it.”
Mr Kuleba added that he expects some of the “money proceeding from these frozen assets” to be given to Ukraine before the war is over.