The effort could be funded through assets seized from Moscow, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said
The UK will host a conference on Ukraine’s recovery next year, as the nation’s conflict with Moscow continues, the British Foreign Office has announced.
This year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference opens on Monday in Lugano, Switzerland. Britain plans to take a place on next year’s supervisory board and coordinate efforts between Kiev and other countries to rebuild the nation, with an office expected to be set up in London.
“We have led on support for Ukraine during the war and will continue to lead in supporting the Ukrainian Government’s Reconstruction and Development Plan,” UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’ statement prepared for the Lugano conference says.
Meanwhile, the UK intends to follow Canada’s lead and seize Russian assets in the country, and use them to support Kiev, according to Truss.
Speaking to Parliament last week, she said the money should be distributed to those who have suffered from the fighting in Ukraine.
“This is an issue that we are working on jointly with the Home Office and the Treasury, but I certainly agree with the concept. We just need to get the specifics of it right,” she told MPs.
The foreign secretary added that new legislation “most probably, but not necessarily” would be required to achieve this goal. Citing the example of Canada, Truss referred to the Canadian Senate’s decision in late June to empower the authorities to confiscate and sell assets seized from Russia after the launch of its military operation in Ukraine.
The UK has frozen the assets of a number of Russian tycoons, airlines, and Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank.
Last week, the G7 group announced it would continue to support Ukraine and explore “viable options” to meet Kiev’s needs in humanitarian aid and reconstruction, “including using frozen Russian assets.”
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
