Seizure of Russian Assets

I have had some reservations about the seizure of Russian assets, mainly for practical reasons: Seizing a sovereign’s funds when there is no actual war with that sovereign seems risky to me, not as extreme as seizing their territory but still significant. I also questioned whether this type of action is permissible under generally accepted principles of international law.

Personally, I do not see these principles as binding when it comes to disputes between adversaries. (However, I believe they are crucial among friends or peaceful trading partners, as there are great benefits from everyone knowing and adhering to the rules.) Nevertheless, I do think that even in dealing with adversaries, there are practical reasons to consider these principles to some extent.

During a recent conversation with my colleague at Hoover, Philip Zelikow, he informed me that such asset seizure is indeed in line with international law, though that does not resolve the question of whether it is wise. One of the authors of a report on this topic, “On Proposed Countermeasures Against Russia to Compensate Injured States for Losses Caused by Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine” (May 20, 2024), shared this information with me, and I wanted to pass it along to our interested readers; of course, I am open to sharing opposing viewpoints as well. Here is an excerpt:

For the reasons outlined in this Memorandum, the authors – experienced public international lawyers and practitioners from various countries – have concluded that it would be lawful under international law for States that have frozen Russian State assets to take further countermeasures against Russia due to its ongoing breach of fundamental international law rules. These countermeasures would involve transferring Russian State assets as compensation for damages directly caused by Russia’s unlawful actions. Only Russian State assets would be impacted, and no new measures would target genuinely privately owned assets….

There is no question about the illegality of Russia’s actions in Ukraine – its invasion, occupation, and annexation of Ukrainian territory. These actions have violated key international law principles, including those in the United Nations Charter and UN General Assembly resolutions. These rules are essential to the post-World War II international legal order and the rules-based international system….

In response to Russia’s blatant violation of its international obligations, international law allows other States to take “countermeasures”. These lawful countermeasures, which would be considered illegal if imposed on an innocent State, are intended to prompt the offending State to cease its unlawful behavior, compensate injured States, and utilize the offending State’s assets for that compensation….

For more details, please visit the link.