That is a central question of how we can help rebuild Ukraine and establish some sort of functioning order at the same time.
With regard to Russian state and private assets that have been frozen by the west, freezing assets is easy. It's part of the sanctions program. Assets being frozen doesn't have to imply criminality, whereas seizing assets can only be done when the authorities have established reasonable evidence of criminality. That is the challenge.
If we, western countries that are now in the position of freezing Russian assets, say that we have the assets, that we'll just seize them and use them for the reconstruction of Ukraine, that puts our companies operating globally in immense peril. Then other countries can say, “Well, if you don't respect the rule of law, then we won't respect the rule of law. If you do something that we don't like, we'll freeze your companies' assets and immediately seize them, and there will be nothing you can do.” The globalized economy is built on the rule of law. Even though other countries don't particularly excel in their adherence to the rule of law, we have to do so. It is the one big advantage that we have, and it's one of the big advantages that make our countries attractive for businesses to operate in.
Because so much Russian behaviour—when it comes to finances, business operations and so forth—involves criminal aspects, there is an opportunity there for western authorities to investigate many more Russian activities so that they can then seize the relevant frozen Russian assets. The Italian Guardia di Finanza is doing great work in that area. I think it's something that holds potential for other countries, as well.
We won't be able to seize enormous amounts of Russian assets by conducting criminal investigations, but we will be able to seize more than we have seized so far, while still adhering to the rule of law.