Not even Nestle is spared Zelensky's sanctions hysteria
3 Min Read
Ukraine looks to isolate Russia even more; now, by pushing Nestle to stop doing business with Moscow.
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A logo pictured during the 152nd Annual General Meeting of Nestle in Lausanne, Switzerland, April 11, 2019 (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chastised Nestle and Swiss companies for continuing business with Russia "even though our children are dying."
Zelensky, addressing Swiss companies, particularly Nestle, in a Swiss rally in Bern, urged them to stop business with Russia and demanded that Swiss banks freeze Russian elites' funds.
Starbucks, L'Oreal, Adidas, McDonald's, and other multinational companies have stopped doing business with Russia, in addition to national banks and more.
Nestle, earlier this month, suspended all capital investments with Moscow.
In the rally, the Ukrainian President condemned companies that continued business with Moscow despite the "siege on Mariupol."
Read more: DPR: Mariupol fully encircled, operation to clean up city underway
Zelensky, furthermore, said it was "painful" that Russians behind the conflict had funds stashed in Switzerland, "The money of the people who unleashed this war is in your banks. Help fight this. So that their funds are frozen."
To Zelensky, it seems as though freezing funds and implementing sanctions would solve all his problems. For a president in the crosshairs of the first war in Europe since WWII, it looks peculiar to take the time to single out Nestle in a critical situation.
The Swiss President, who endorsed Zelensky's position, said he will be visiting the Polish border with Ukraine on Monday
EU officials plan to funnel funds from seized Russian assets to Ukraine
European officials have seized billions of euros in Russian property and assets in recent weeks, and if US and EU officials are to be believed, more is on the way.
In Italy, officials have seized assets worth €780 million ($862 million) in the last two weeks. According to Dutch Central Bank Manager Klaas Knot, €194 million in the last week alone. And now, amid the rush for Russian cash, EU officials are attempting to channel the funds into a so-called "war reparations fund" for Ukraine's struggling regime, according to a Bloomberg story.
The EU has been working closely with the US in the face of widespread mainstream western condemnation of Russia's ongoing special military operation aimed at demilitarizing and de-nazifying Ukraine, which was prompted by near-constant attacks on Russian-speaking communities in eastern Ukraine, killing well over 14,000 people since 2014.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday the formation of a "task force" to "seize and freeze" assets belonging to "REPO", i.e. "Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs."
The measures are part of an ongoing economic pressure campaign on Russian individuals, primarily by NATO-aligned nations. Official announcements portrayed the move as an initiative to "identify, constrain, freeze, seize, and, where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit" the assets of Russians suspected of having ties to the Russian government.
Only a day later, the EU declared a "Freeze and Seize" operation to collaborate with the US and coordinate Western cooperation. The so-called "task forces" are said to work alongside a previously disclosed US Justice Department-led program called "KleptoCapture", which aims to seize finances and assets from persons deemed "Putin affiliates" by Western governments.
