A Labour MP has urged the Government to stop “making policy on an imaginary future” and seize frozen Russian assets to support the Ukrainian war effort. Blair McDougall said the frozen assets should be used in full to ensure Ukraine is victorious against Vladimir Putin.
The East Renfrewshire MP told the Commons debate: “Is there any conceivable situation where we and our international partners would unfreeze these assets that we hold and return them to Russia if Putin has not delivered the reparations he’s bound to pay?.
“The second question is, is there any situation we can conceive of where Putin would voluntarily give up those reparations? I think if we’re honest, the answer to both those questions has to be no. “So rather than making policy on an imaginary future that won’t come, and holding these funds in perpetuity, we should use them now, in full, in whole, when Ukraine needs them most.
“And if we are hung up on those legal arguments, as I say, collar a loan and leave the Kremlin a credit note, and let’s do that. “The irony of this debate is we are at risk of having our own commitment to the international order preventing us from enforcing it. And the irony is, that Putin having stepped outside that international order is demanding the protection of it.
“We need to listen to the echoes of history as we enter this chamber and make sure that Ukraine has everything it needs in order to fight and win this war.”. Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin, who brought forward the debate, argued there is a “clear legal pathway” to seizing the frozen assets.
