Switzerland opposes transfer of frozen Russian funds to Ukraine

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Oct 2022 17:01
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The Ukrainian President has demanded blocking Russian assets in Swiss banks and transferring them to Ukraine last week.

Switzerland opposes the transfer of frozen Russian funds to Ukraine.

On Monday, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Fabian Maienfisch, told reporters that Switzerland disapproved of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposal to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

"For the Swiss government, the confiscation of assets only on the basis of belonging to a state or being included in the sanctions list and using them to rebuild Ukraine is currently not an option of showing support for Ukraine," the spokesperson told RIA Novosti.

Zelensky's proposal to block Russian assets in Swiss banks and transfer them to Ukraine was delivered last week.

On June 30, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Alexander Venediktov deemed the freeze of Russian assets to be one of the "greatest thefts in history."

The Ukrainian President has several times asked his allies to further support him financially and militarily throughout the war.

So far, the US has been its principal provider with the transfers of over $16.9 billion in "security assistance", which includes a package worth $600 million in early September. Additionally, the White House asked Congress for $13.7 billion for "security and economic assistance" for Ukraine.

The EU has likewise provided some support despite its current struggles with the energy crisis.

In the first half of the year, the EU supported Ukraine with €1.2 billion in loans and billions in arms and weapons deliveries, and in July it agreed to provide an assistance package worth €9 billion of which €1 billion were dispatched last summer and another €5 billion are already approved but not yet delivered.

The remaining €3 billion are still being discussed on whether to be sent as grants or loans, but the US has recently been pressuring the EU to do more to assist Ukraine in the war.

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that the US was eyeing plans to make monthly transfers in aid to Ukraine in efforts to continue the war against Russia and it called on its EU counterparts to assist in the like.

On the military side, both the EU and the US failed to meet Ukraine's needs, as per Zelensky. Since the start of the war, the Ukrainian President has been insisting on his allies to send them the most up-to-date tanks which are believed would strengthen its counter-offensive against Russia.

Spain showed good cooperation in the beginning but was later pressured by Germany not to send the desired weapons.

On September 30, White House official Jake Sullivan said the US did not rule out that NATO-standard tanks, including Abrams and Leopard tanks, will be supplied to Ukraine in light of its ongoing war.

An article published by Military Watch Magazine on September 30 detailed some reasons why such a move would ever be possible - one of the reasons being that NATO would never want to compromise its technology through capture.