Zelenskyy proposes mechanism for Russia to compensate Ukraine for war damage
Kateryna Tyshchenko - Friday, 20 May 2022, 22:41
Ukraine is inviting international partners to sign a multilateral agreement that will provide for the confiscation of Russian assets and property in other countries to compensate for the damage caused by Russia during the war in Ukraine.
Source: Presidential video address
Quote: "We invite partner countries to sign a multilateral agreement and create a mechanism through which everyone who has suffered from Russia's actions can receive compensation for these losses.
Under such an agreement, Russian funds and property under the jurisdiction of partner countries should be seized or frozen, and then confiscated and directed to a specially created fund from which all victims of Russian aggression may receive appropriate compensation.
That would certainly be fair and just, and Russia will feel the true weight of every missile, every bomb, every projectile it has fired at us.
We invite our partners to become the founders of such a fund, as well as members of a special international commission that will consider claims, appeals from both individuals and legal entities."
Details: The President noted that this would not be an easy task, but a discussion has already begun about the necessity for such compensation at the expense of Russian assets.
"We are starting such a special dialogue with our partners to make the aggressors feel that the war is capable of inflicting maximum damage not to someone else, but on the one who brought it to their neighbour," Zelenskyy said.
"Russian money as compensation should reach every person, family and business affected. Of course, the Russian state will not even acknowledge that it is an aggressor, but it does not need to be acknowledged," said the President.
Background:
According to the KSE Institute’s "Russia Will Pay" project, launched with the support of the Ukrainian government and the Presidential Office, the amount of damage to Ukraine's infrastructure during the war waged by Russia had reached $97.4 billion as of 18 May.
