{"id":144286,"date":"2025-03-07T13:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T13:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/?p=144286"},"modified":"2025-03-10T09:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T09:15:13","slug":"uk-government-urged-to-publish-legal-advice-on-seizing-frozen-russian-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/news\/2025\/03\/07\/uk-government-urged-to-publish-legal-advice-on-seizing-frozen-russian-assets\/","title":{"rendered":"UK government urged to publish legal advice on seizing frozen Russian assets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The UK government has been urged to publish the legal advice that is shaping ministers\u2019 decision-making over whether to seize Russian assets to benefit Ukraine.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Liberal Democrats have written to the attorney general, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/tag\/lord-hermer\/\">Lord Hermer<\/a>, as pressure mounts on the government to seize frozen Russian assets and repurpose them to fund support for Ukraine.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The calls for the government to move from freezing Russian assets to seizing them have grown in recent days in light of US president Donald Trump\u2019s decision to suspend military aid to the war-torn Eastern European country.<\/p>\n<p>The Lib Dem request also comes amid suggestions that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/tag\/lord-hermer\/\">Lord Hermer<\/a> is holding up a plan to seize frozen Russian assets. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/uk\/politics\/article\/lord-hermer-blocking-russian-asset-seizures-ukraine-fkxg6js6g\"><i>The Times<\/i><\/a> newspaper, the attorney general has been criticised by some in government for warning ministers against the move.<\/p>\n<p>There is a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/uk\/politics\/article\/lord-hermer-blocking-russian-asset-seizures-ukraine-fkxg6js6g\">live discussion<\/a>\u201d across Whitehall about options for using Russian assets to plug the gap left by the pause in US military assistance to Ukraine, the newspaper reports.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/tag\/rishi-sunak\/\">Rishi Sunak<\/a>, the former prime minister, is among those advocating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/parliament\/rishi-sunak-now-is-the-moment-to-seize-russian-assets-to-help-ukraine\/\">a seizure of Russian assets<\/a> to fund the Ukrainian war effort and\/or future re-development projects.<\/p>\n<p><i>***Politics.co.uk is the UK\u2019s leading digital-only political website. <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/subscribe\/\"><i>Subscribe to our daily newsletter<\/i><\/a><i> for all the latest news and analysis.***<\/i><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"aV72z38ynh\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/week-in-review\/2025\/02\/15\/week-in-review-lord-hermer-blue-labour-and-the-defining-choice-keir-starmer-faces\/\">Week-in-Review: Lord Hermer, Blue Labour and the defining choice Keir Starmer faces<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content lazyload\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Week-in-Review: Lord Hermer, Blue Labour and the defining choice Keir Starmer faces&#8221; &#8212; Politics.co.uk\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/week-in-review\/2025\/02\/15\/week-in-review-lord-hermer-blue-labour-and-the-defining-choice-keir-starmer-faces\/embed\/#?secret=5RZlAsYgCK#?secret=aV72z38ynh\" data-secret=\"aV72z38ynh\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"about:blank\" data-load-mode=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sunak told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/the-commons-latest\/\">House of Commons<\/a> on Tuesday: \u201cEvents overnight [Trump\u2019s decision to suspend military aid] make it even clearer that Europe must find considerably more resources for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cThe chancellor has rightly continued our policy of using the interest on frozen Russian state assets to benefit Ukraine, but I believe now is the moment to go further and to actually seize those assets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRussia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine violates the principle of sovereign equality providing a basis in international law for this and by acting in concert with our allies we can ensure there are no risks to financial stability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding to Sunak at commons Treasury questions, chancellor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/tag\/rachel-reeves\/\">Rachel Reeves<\/a> insisted that it is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/parliament\/rishi-sunak-now-is-the-moment-to-seize-russian-assets-to-help-ukraine\/\">incredibly complicated<\/a>\u201d to take further action in line with international law. However, she added Russia should \u201cpay for the damage that Russia has caused\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Reeves said: \u201cAs the prime minister said yesterday, we would look at going further but as [he] knows it is incredibly complicated to do that in line with international law, but we keep all options on the table because [he] is absolutely right, Russia should pay for the damage that Russia has caused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben Maguire, the Lib Dem shadow attorney general, has now written to his government counterpart demanding he publish the legal advice underpinning ministers\u2019 decision-making around the potential seizure of the assets.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting, Maguire has urged the government to \u201cmake his reasoning public\u201d \u2014 calling for \u201cproper scrutiny\u201d of the decision as Ukraine\u2019s military capacity to resist Putin is undermined by the White House.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s decisions to cut aid to Ukraine and ban the UK from sharing military intelligence with the besieged nation have \u201ccrippled\u201d Zelensky\u2019s defence effort, he added.<\/p>\n<p>The Lib Dem MP said: \u201cZelensky\u2019s besieged nation has been crippled by Trump\u2019s callous approach to Ukraine\u2019s defence. From cutting aid to banning intelligence sharing at the drop of a hat, it\u2019s clear we need a plan B to halt Putin\u2019s brutal invasion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that the UK holds billions in frozen Russian assets \u2013 capital that could transform Kyiv\u2019s defence effort and counteract the reckless decisions coming from the White House. We\u2019ve rightly seized the interest on these assets, but it\u2019s time for Britain to go further and faster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m calling on the UK Attorney General to make his reasoning public, and publish his legal advice to the government on seizing the frozen assets in full. We need the chance to properly scrutinise the decision-making on this crucial issue, so the UK can then make the right choice for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/tag\/lord-hermer\/\">Lord Hermer<\/a> adds: \u201cCurrently, the profits accruing from frozen Russian assets across the UK are being used to fund Ukraine\u2019s resistance. This is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is essential, however, that the UK goes further and faster. US president Trump\u2019s decision to suspend military aid supplies and intelligence sharing with the Armed Forces of Ukraine makes it imperative that we do more, now, to contribute to Kyiv\u2019s defence\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Attorney General, will you \u2014 as a matter of urgency \u2014 publish the legal advice that you have provided to the UK government in relation to the proposed seizure of frozen Russian assets?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Foreign secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/tag\/david-lammy\/\">David Lammy<\/a> has agreed in principle that Europe should \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/parliament\/david-lammy-it-is-time-for-europe-to-seize-russian-assets-not-just-freeze-them\/\">move<\/a>\u201d from freezing Russian assets to seizing them.<\/p>\n<p>Late last month at commons Foreign Office questions, the foreign secretary was urged to introduce legislation to \u201crepurpose\u201d Russian assets for the Ukrainian war effort by Lib Dem MP Alison Bennett.<\/p>\n<p>Lammy insisted that this is not an issue on which any government can act alone. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/parliament\/david-lammy-it-is-time-for-europe-to-seize-russian-assets-not-just-freeze-them\/\">We must act with European allies<\/a>\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cIt was a topic of conversation at the G7. It was a topic of conversation at the Weimar group. And of course, Europe has to act quickly. And I believe we should move from freezing assets to seizing assets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/josh-self.bsky.social\"><i>here<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Politics.co.uk is the UK\u2019s leading digital-only political website. <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/subscribe\/\"><i>Subscribe to our daily newsletter<\/i><\/a><i> for all the latest news and analysis.<\/i><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"71rg7Z4n5X\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/parliament\/rishi-sunak-now-is-the-moment-to-seize-russian-assets-to-help-ukraine\/\">Rishi Sunak: Now is the moment to seize Russian assets to help Ukraine<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content lazyload\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Rishi Sunak: Now is the moment to seize Russian assets to help Ukraine&#8221; &#8212; Politics.co.uk\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/parliament\/rishi-sunak-now-is-the-moment-to-seize-russian-assets-to-help-ukraine\/embed\/#?secret=EDbMkKAtjg#?secret=71rg7Z4n5X\" data-secret=\"71rg7Z4n5X\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"about:blank\" data-load-mode=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK government has been urged to publish the legal advice that is shaping ministers\u2019 decision-making over whether to seize Russian assets to benefit Ukraine.\u00a0 The Liberal Democrats have written to the attorney general, Lord Hermer, as pressure mounts on the government to seize frozen Russian assets and repurpose them to fund support for Ukraine.\u00a0&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/news\/2025\/03\/07\/uk-government-urged-to-publish-legal-advice-on-seizing-frozen-russian-assets\/\" title=\"Read UK government urged to publish legal advice on seizing frozen Russian assets\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":144287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[172,8111,6483,7007],"editors-picks":[],"maps":[],"class_list":["post-144286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-liberal-democrats","tag-lord-hermer","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-war"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UK government urged to publish legal advice on seizing frozen Russian assets - Politics.co.uk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/news\/2025\/03\/07\/uk-government-urged-to-publish-legal-advice-on-seizing-frozen-russian-assets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK government urged to publish legal advice on seizing frozen Russian assets - Politics.co.uk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK government has been urged to publish the legal advice that is shaping ministers\u2019 decision-making over whether to seize Russian assets to benefit Ukraine.\u00a0 The Liberal Democrats have written to the attorney general, Lord Hermer, as pressure mounts on the government to seize frozen Russian assets and repurpose them to fund support for Ukraine.\u00a0... 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