Proposals to confiscate up to $500 billion of frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's reconstruction have met with strong resistance from Switzerland, which is hosting an international two-day conference on Ukraine's revival, The Guardian reports..

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Swiss President Ignazio Cassis opposed the plan during. According to him, the protection of property rights is fundamental in a liberal democracy.. At the final press conference in Lugano, he stressed that some leaders seriously fear that proposals to confiscate Russian assets would set a dangerous precedent and therefore need concrete legal justification..

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Switzerland is one of many countries with tough banking secrecy laws that is less than enthusiastic about seizing private property for political purposes..

For her part, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss supported the idea of \u200b\u200bconfiscation of the frozen assets of the aggressor, that is, the Russian Federation, in favor of Ukraine.

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In turn, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal admitted that this is only the beginning of the discussion.. "

“We, as a country that is a victim of unprovoked aggression, will be very vocal about this possibility, because we understand that an aggressor who kills our people, destroys our infrastructure, our schools, our hospitals, must pay for it,” he stressed..

He also noted that Russian assets worth from $300 to $500 billion have been frozen around the world..

In April, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of the Swiss Confederation announced a freeze on Russian assets worth 9.7 billion. Swiss francs, but some of this money has since been unlocked. One controversial issue is the extent to which family members of a sanctioned oligarch can retain property in Switzerland..

As a reminder, we previously reported that even after Berne mirrored all the sanctions implemented by the US and the EU against Russian oligarchs (and there are already about 900 people on this list around the world), Russian assets are currently frozen in Switzerland.

For comparison, on the island of Jersey, whose geographic coordinates are little known, $ 7 billion of assets associated with Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich alone are frozen..

The Swiss Banking Association (Schweizerische Bankiervereinigung SBVg) recently estimated that a total of about 150–200 billion Swiss francs (155–207 billion dollars) of Russian money is held in Swiss banks..

Representatives of more than four dozen countries and two dozen international organizations, such as the European Investment Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), signed today, following two days of consultations held in the city of Lugano in the canton of Ticino,.

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In the final document, the Conference participants outlined seven criteria for the revival of Ukraine, including combating corruption, adherence to democratic values, ensuring a transparent and accountable style of governing the country, developing fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms. The summit was organized by Swiss President Ignazio Cassis and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen participated in its work personally, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the conference online.