US plans to give seized Russia money to Kyiv, says Kremlin spokesman

A US plan to send Ukraine funds seized from Russian business people targeted by sanctions is illegal and any such actions will be contested, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday that Washington was transferring to Ukraine $5.4 million in “assets seized from sanctioned Russian oligarchs, which will now be used to support Ukrainian military veterans”. Peskov said: “This is hard to imagine and it goes against everything in international law and those countries’ national law. But as soon as an opportunity presents itself, we will defend our rights.”

BAT exits Russia business

British American Tobacco said on Thursday it would sell its Russian and Belarusian businesses to a consortium led by its Russian management team, ending an 18-month long process. BAT, which controlled just under 25 per cent of the Russian tobacco market, said it had now formally agreed to sell the business and expects the transaction to complete within the next month. REUTERS