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The G7 nations and the European Union are debating on proposals to seize assets of Russia’s central bank to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine, Reuters reported. 

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner revealed plans in an interview with Germany’s Handelsblatt and three other European publications.

“I am politically open to the idea of seizing foreign assets of the Russian Central Bank,” told the newspapers. 

Proposals for the seizure are being discussed between the Group of Seven nations and the EU, the report added. 

“In the case of private assets, we have to see what is legally possible. We have to respect the rule of law, even if we are dealing with Russian oligarchs,” Lindner noted. 

In retaliation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US along with its European and Asian allies imposed severe sanctions targeting the banking system. 

These sanctions froze around half of the Russian central bank’s foreign currency reserves held in other countries’ central banks.

It is believed that Russia has more than $600bn in foreign currency reserves such as gold, dollars, and other currencies.

Responding to the development, Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that such a move would be “illegal, blatant and of course requiring an appropriate response. … It would be, in fact, outright theft.”

Last month, Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina announced that the bank would take legal action to recover gold and foreign exchange reserves.