Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will (a) impose an asset freeze against the Central Bank of Russia, (b) take steps to confiscate frozen assets and (c) issue a licence from the Treasury's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to enable the release of confiscated assets in order to support Ukraine in rectifying the damage to that country caused by the Russian invasion.

We do not speculate on future sanctions. In conjunction with our partners, we have already blocked access to £275 billion of the Russian Central Bank's foreign currency reserves. We are considering all options on assets that have been seized and whether they can contribute towards to the reconstruction of Ukraine. Where assets are subject to an asset freeze, their release may be permitted through a licence from the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). OFSI can only issue licences where there are specific and relevant licensing grounds enabling them to do so, and where the conditions in those grounds have been met in the relevant sanctions regulations. OFSI also has powers to issue general licences under such conditions as HM Treasury deems appropriate.