The European Commission today proposed a plan to seize frozen Russian assets to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, while the EU will also seek to set up, with UN support, a special court to investigate and prosecute potential Russian war crimes in Ukraine. “We have blocked 300 billion euros from the reserves of the Russian central bank and we have frozen 19 billion euros from the money of Russian oligarchs,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

Russia must pay for its horrific crimes.

We will work with the ICC and help set up a specialised court to try Russia’s crimes.

With our partners, we will make sure that Russia pays for the devastation it caused, with the frozen funds of oligarchs and assets of its central bank pic.twitter.com/vaI7dqda74

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 30, 2022

She added that the EU and its partners could manage these funds in the short term and invest them. The proceeds could be allocated to Ukraine to compensate for the damage caused to the country.

“We will work on an international agreement with our partners to make this possible. And together we can find legal ways to achieve it,” she said.

“We are ready to start working with the international community to achieve the widest possible international support for this special court,” said the president of the Commission.