Could the west confiscate $300bn of Russia’s assets to pay for Ukraine ‘war compensation’?

Any plan to seize the state’s cash and gold faces both practical and legal hurdles, writes Ben Chapman

Almost $300bn of assets belonging to Russia’s central bank have been frozen – now there is a push to go further (AP)

Momentum is building behind an international plan to seize hundreds of billions of dollars from Russia’s central bank to cover the costs of “war compensation” for Ukraine.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, weighed in to support the proposals that would further increase financial pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Mr Borrell told the Financial Times he was “very much in favour”, pointing to a recent seizure by the US of Afghan central bank assets that has been earmarked to compensate victims of terrorism and provide humanitarian aid.