“This is the beginning of chaos”: Macron opposed the use of frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the confiscation of frozen Russian assets violates international law and could lead to “complete chaos.”

This is reported by CBS News.

The French leader stressed that even in a situation of war in Ukraine, international obligations cannot be ignored. According to him, states that allow themselves to take funds from central banks will set a dangerous precedent.

“Regarding frozen assets, we are all very committed to respecting international rules. And you cannot confiscate these assets from the central bank even in such a situation. I believe that this is a matter of trust, and it is very important that our countries respect international law,” Macron stressed.

He also warned that disregard for the norms of international law in global politics would have catastrophic consequences.

“If we talk about the Middle East, if we talk about the situation in Ukraine — when some countries start not respecting international laws and when we prove to be not strong enough, this is the beginning of complete chaos,” the French president said.

At the same time, Macron stressed that France will continue to remain a “predictable” state and will not take steps that contradict international norms. He explained that frozen assets will remain intact, and the main tool of influence on Russia should be increasing sanctions pressure and finding ways to return the Kremlin to negotiations.

“We will respect international law. We are predictable and will not do impossible things with these frozen assets,” Macron concluded.

We remind you that the European Union is preparing a mechanism that will allow Ukraine to transfer frozen Russian assets without their formal confiscation . Under the new scheme, Russia will remain the nominal owner of the funds, but Kyiv will actually be able to use them.

Earlier, Ukraine received another tranche of financial assistance from the European Union in the amount of 1 billion euros. The funds came from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets and are part of a large-scale G7 initiative to support Ukraine.

It has been reported that the European Commission is working on creating a special fund that could attract almost 200 billion euros in frozen Russian assets . These funds are planned to be used to support the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

Instead, Hungary has filed a lawsuit with the Court of Justice of the European Union against the Council of the EU over its decision to use frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Ukraine. By the way, Belgium also does not agree to the confiscation of frozen Russian assets held in its banks.

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