US Ambassador to Bern Scott Miller believes that Switzerland could block another $50-100 billion of Russian assets.
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Switzerland has joined almost all European sanctions against the Russian Federation since February 24, 2022. Bern blocked $8.1 billion worth of Russian assets as part of the sanctions. The Swiss bank Credit Suisse blocked or froze more than a third of Russian assets registered in Switzerland – 17.6 billion francs (over $19 billion).
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“We have already noticed that the authorities have frozen Russian assets in Swiss banks in the amount of 7.75 billion Swiss francs. Switzerland could block another 50 to 100 billion,” Miller said in an interview with the Swiss publication Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
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The American ambassador added that it was necessary to find as many Russian assets as possible, freeze them and, if necessary, confiscate them in order to provide them to Ukraine for recovery.
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“But this requires international coordination agreements. I hope that we, as an international community, will be able to achieve this,” Miller said.
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Earlier, the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported that about 50 billion dollars of Russian funds were declared in Switzerland.
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In February, the Swiss government said that the transfer of Russian assets frozen in the country to Ukraine, in accordance with applicable law, was illegal.
