The upper house of the Swiss Parliament has endorsed a series of government-backed motions, paving the way for the use of frozen Russian assets to fund war reparations in Ukraine.
The relevant statement was made by France 24, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
The lower house passed the above motions back in 2023.
Now, the Swiss government can work on an international legal basis for using frozen aggressor-state assets to pay for reparations in attacked countries. The mechanism will be aimed at allowing frozen funds from an aggressor’s central bank, or assets of its state-owned companies, to be legally transferred to an attacked state.
More than $8 billion in Russian central bank reserves and assets are held in Switzerland.
“Russia has seriously violated international law. It must therefore repair the damage caused. International discussions are under way regarding compensation mechanisms and Switzerland is participating with its knowledge, its skills and all its history in this area,” Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis noted.
The Swiss Bankers Association estimated that, in March 2022, Russian clients held approximately CHF 150 billion in banks in Switzerland.
A reminder that Britain is prepared to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian central bank assets in the UK on the basis that Russia will be forced to pay reparations to Ukraine at the end of the war.