ICYMI: Kennedy in The Washington Times: Congress, EU must back lawful confiscation of Russia’s frozen assets

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in The Washington Times, calling on the European Union to provide banks the legal certainty they need to confiscate frozen Russian assets so Ukraine can put the funds to use.

Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:

"European leaders met Thursday to discuss the next steps in their support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Ending this war will be complicated, but there's one straightforward step the European Union can take to pressure Mr. Putin into peace: recognizing the lawful plan to thaw Russia's frozen assets and send them to Kyiv."

. . .

"If Russia is going to break international law to attack Europe, carve up sovereign Ukrainian territory and otherwise generate global chaos, its central bank shouldn't reap the security and safety of Western investments. Confiscating this $300 billion is the punishing blow Mr. Putin deserves for embarking on this unlawful war in the first place. You break the peace, you buy it."

. . .

"I introduced a bipartisan resolution with Sens. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, to affirm Congress' recognition of the legal validity of a plan to seize Russia's frozen assets and distribute them in tranches of $10 billion to fund Ukraine's reconstruction.

"The resolution also urges European leaders to issue similar proclamations in support of the lawful confiscation of Russia's assets and calls on President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to prioritize the sale of U.S. weapons to our allies that comply with our effort.

"The resolution will easily pass the U.S. Senate if Majority Leader John Thune, who controls the Senate floor, allows it to be considered.

"This war will end only if it becomes too costly for Mr. Putin to keep fighting. There's no better way to drive up the costs than to use Russia's money against him. It's time to unfreeze the assets and finish the war."

Read Kennedy's op-ed here.