Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis supports the idea of \u200b\u200bhis country confiscating frozen Russian assets in order to then send them to the restoration of Ukraine. However, Swiss banks themselves oppose such steps, writes Bloomberg..

“If we seriously want to help rebuild Ukraine, we need to think about how we will finance it,” Cassis told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger..

He added that the authorities of some countries are discussing the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, "

So far, 7.5 billion francs ($8.2 billion) of assets that Switzerland has frozen from sanctioned Russians, according to Cassis, cannot be confiscated. Most likely, a referendum will need to be held to change the relevant law.. Russians' frozen assets are part of 150 billion francs ($150.1 billion) of total Russian funds held in Switzerland.

Internationally, there seems to be "

“We can’t just take money that doesn’t belong to us just because we think it’s morally right… Ownership is fundamental,” Cassis said..

At the same time, according to Bloomberg, Swiss banks were very critical of the proposal to give Ukraine frozen Russian assets..

In particular, a banker, who was not named, told the NZZ newspaper that the neglect of property rights in this way would undermine Switzerland's position as a financial center.. Another called it the death penalty for Swiss banks.

The Swiss government's decision to accept European Union sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine has already been heavily criticized for sacrificing historical neutrality..

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It was reported that the US and other countries began to pressure Switzerland to gain access to Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine after the war..