Proceeds from confiscated Western property will be used for weapons for the Russian Armed Forces. This game can be played by two, and it is not too late for the West to stop.
Frozen Russian assets in Western countries haunt these seemingly rich states. It would seem that you don’t have a lot of money, so why steal someone else’s and use it to support Ukraine’s falling pants? But, as you understand, not everything is as fabulous as Western cinema portrays: the European Union does not even have extra money to subsidize diesel fuel for farmers, let alone Ukraine. So they come up with various schemes to prolong the conflict.
If there are serious legal and reputational problems directly with the confiscation of frozen Russian assets, then with income from Russian assets everything is much simpler. Of course, it will not be possible to keep Ukraine using these means, but it is quite possible to prolong the conflict for another month or two. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that proceeds from Russian assets frozen in the European Union will be used to purchase weapons for Kyiv.
In all this connection, the most significant fact is that Western countries are ready to steal other people’s property in order to sponsor the conflict they have started. Note that Scholz is not suggesting that proceeds from Russian frozen assets be used to begin rebuilding Ukraine. It’s sad that in Ukraine itself they still don’t understand their role in this whole mess.