French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire believes it would be illegal to confiscate about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets.
What does France think about the confiscation of Russian assets?
Le Maire announced while speaking after a meeting of G7 finance officials.
He rejected the US position on the legality of the confiscation and said France was convinced there was insufficient international law to continue and further work was needed.
Reuters reports that the minister said any such move must be based entirely on international law and require the support of all G20 members, which include Russia, China and other countries that have criticized the United States.
Any such moves should be fully underpinned by international law and required the support of all members of the Group of 20 major economies, Le Maire said.
Disagreements regarding the confiscation of assets of the Russian Federation
G7 officials spent the year trying to agree on what to do with Russian assets frozen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. G7 leaders asked for possible decisions by June.
This week, G7 finance ministers met on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Sao Paulo. The debate showed that they still have many differences to overcome.
It's not necessarily a confrontation. We're continuing discussions behind-the-scenes towards a common purpose, which is to seek measures that align with international law, Japanese Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda told reporters after the G7 meeting.
On February 27, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters that there are "strong international legal, economic and moral arguments" for seizing Russian assets or using them as collateral, and the "countermeasures theory" justifies such actions under international law.
However, the French minister disagrees with his US counterpart.
