David Lammy: It is time for Europe to seize Russian assets, not just freeze them

Europe should “move” from freezing Russian assets to seizing them, David Lammy has said.

The foreign secretary was urged to introduce legislation to “repurpose” Russian assets for the Ukrainian war effort by Liberal Democrat MP Alison Bennett.

Bennett asked: “Will the government bring forward emergency legislation to seize frozen Russian assets and ensure they are repurposed to support Ukraine in the wake of [Donald] Trump’s talks with [Vladimir] Putin?

“And if not, could the foreign secretary explain why not?”

Speaking at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office questions, Lammy responded that this is not an issue on which any government can act alone.

“We must act with European allies”, he said.

The foreign secretary added: “It 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.”

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