Billions of people around the world are watching helplessly as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine accelerates into its second month, continuing to kill more innocent people every day, while destroying infrastructure throughout the country and forcing millions of refugees into neighboring European countries.
There is one positive step that the U.S. and like-minded countries should begin developing immediately to ensure that Russia at least is held responsible for the cost of humanitarian assistance, reparations and eventual reconstruction: Tap Russian foreign exchange reserves that are held in central banks outside the country and that have been frozen by their governments.
According to the most recent data supplied by Russia’s central bank, as of June 30, 2021, Russia's foreign currency reserves totaled $585 billion, though not all of this would be accessible to pay for damages. That’s because Russia holds a good portion of the total in gold at home (22%), a substantial amount of yuan in China (14%), and some in international institutions (5%). Subtracting these amounts leaves about $350 billion in "available reserves” for distribution — mostly held by France (12%), Germany (10%), Japan (10%) and the U.S. (7%), with the rest scattered among many other countries.