OPINION:
European leaders met Thursday to discuss the next steps in their support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ending this war will be complicated, but there’s one straightforward step the European Union can take to pressure Mr. Putin into peace: recognizing the lawful plan to thaw Russia’s frozen assets and send them to Kyiv.
Before Mr. Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s central bank had invested nearly $300 billion in financial institutions throughout Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States. As Russia’s tanks rolled onto Ukrainian territory, Western banks locked the Russian accounts to prevent these assets from further fueling Mr. Putin’s assault.
Many had hoped Europe would fully confiscate Russia’s cash and send it to Ukraine so that Russia’s central bank would be on the hook for this costly war. Instead, the banks with jurisdiction over these assets have been just as frozen as Russia’s accounts.
Euroclear, a Belgium-based bank holding two-thirds of the assets at issue, and other Western banks haven’t touched Russia’s money because they are concerned they will have to pay it all back. Mr. Putin has no respect for international law. Still, he is not above the hypocrisy of using it to attack Euroclear in an attempt to reclaim Russia’s $300 billion when the dust of this war settles.
Our friends in Europe have failed to provide the necessary legal assurances to Euroclear and the other banks, which are required to release the funds. In fact, the only action Europe has taken to use Russia’s frozen assets has been to allow the interest generated by the funds to repay countries that have lent Ukraine money. In total, Ukraine has received $50 billion from such loans, including $20 billion from the U.S.
We cannot afford to leave this money on ice as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine. American taxpayers have already sent Ukraine $175 billion in five separate funding packages since the war began in 2022. There’s no reason the U.S. should send a single penny to Ukraine when we could force Russia to pay $300 billion to clean up the bloody mess it made.
If Russia is going to break international law to attack Europe, carve up sovereign Ukrainian territory and otherwise generate global chaos, its central bank shouldn’t reap the security and safety of Western investments. Confiscating this $300 billion is the punishing blow Mr. Putin deserves for embarking on this unlawful war in the first place. You break the peace, you buy it.
International law is flush with precedent establishing the lawful confiscation of state-owned assets in response to grievous violations of the international order. We need the U.S., the European Union and all our Western allies to make clear that we will defend the legitimate right of Euroclear and other banks to confiscate Russia’s $300 billion and use it to rebuild Ukraine’s war-torn territory.
I introduced a bipartisan resolution with Sens. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, to affirm Congress’ recognition of the legal validity of a plan to seize Russia’s frozen assets and distribute them in tranches of $10 billion to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The resolution also urges European leaders to issue similar proclamations in support of the lawful confiscation of Russia’s assets and calls on President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to prioritize the sale of U.S. weapons to our allies that comply with our effort.
The resolution will easily pass the U.S. Senate if Majority Leader John Thune, who controls the Senate floor, allows it to be considered.
This war will end only if it becomes too costly for Mr. Putin to keep fighting. There’s no better way to drive up the costs than to use Russia’s money against him. It’s time to unfreeze the assets and finish the war.
• Sen. John Kennedy has served the state of Louisiana in the U.S. Senate since 2017.
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