A discussion draft released on May 19 by U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) would declare the Russian Federation and Belarus as aggressor states and order the transfer of their blocked assets to the United States to help reconstruct Ukraine.
“American taxpayers have held the burden of funding the war in Ukraine for too long. My draft legislation, the Ukraine Reconstruction Act, will ensure Russia is responsible for paying for the damages Putin’s government has caused in their illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Rep. Hill said. “It is time for Putin to be held accountable for his brutal assault on this sovereign nation — Russia must bear the responsibility of paying for its illicit war.”
The Ukraine Reconstruction Act of 2023 would state that Congress finds the Russian Federation, aided and abetted by Belarus, has engaged “in egregious and illegal behavior by invading Ukraine” in violation of established norms of international law and the United Nations Charter, according to the text of the draft.
Further, “these actions by the Russian Federation and Belarus constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and to the civilized world,” the draft says. “The President of the United States shall designate the Russian Federation and Belarus as “Aggressor States” for purposes of this Act because of their violations of international law and the United Nations Charter with respect to Ukraine.
The draft legislation would amend the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to authorize the president to confiscate Russian sovereign assets located within the U.S. and use them to compensate Ukraine to help jump-start its economic and infrastructure reconstruction, according to a summary provided by Rep. Hill’s office.
The draft legislation also would authorize the U.S. Treasury Secretary, at the direction of the president, to seize and transfer the title of Russian sovereign assets to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure and provide humanitarian relief, the summary says.
It is important for America’s partners and allies in Europe and beyond to introduce and pass similar companion legislation, according to Rep. Hill’s summary, which would assist in the most effective manner in order to use Russian assets as a source of funding for reconstruction.