After the United States illegally froze over $300 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves held in the U.S. as part of the sanctions assault, a lively discussion has been underway in the Russian media over whether or not the U.S. will next try to out-and-out steal the Russian funds. Izvestia yesterday reported that it believes that “Washington officials remain divided on whether the country has the power to confiscate Russia-related assets and use them for Ukraine’s restoration,” and cited chapter and verse from U.S. legislation to bolster their argument.
They quoted Professor of Finance at Michigan State University Andrey Simonov: “I don’t see how these assets can be confiscated. The only possible scenario would involve a declaration of war between Russia and the U.S. Another scenario would include the establishment of an alternative Russian government, like in Venezuela. I don’t think that this scenario is possible.”
(These days, however, it were wiser to “never say never.")
Izvestia then asserted that “the U.S. government is first and foremost concerned that a refusal to return the assets to Russia will make other countries abandon the dollar as a global reserve currency because foreign governments and companies will no longer be sure that their assets won’t be frozen, sanctioned and seized.”
