Zelenskyy calls for confiscating Russian Central Bank funds

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s president is renewing his call to confiscate Russian Central Bank assets held around the world and use them to help rebuild Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the appeal Wednesday to the heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during a meeting in Washington. Speaking by video link, he said: “Russia must feel the full price of its aggression.” The U.S. announced at the start of Russia’s invasion that America and its allies had blocked access to more than $600 billion that Russia held outside its borders. A joint assessment released in March by Ukraine’s government, the World Bank and European Commission estimates Ukraine’s long-term recovery needs will total at least $411 billion.