KYIV: Ukraine urged the West on Monday to transfer control of confiscated Russian assets to Kyiv so they could be used to rebuild the country and fund its recovery.
Calls have been mounting in Washington and Europe to set up a fund for Ukraine using billions of dollars in Russia bank accounts, investments and other assets frozen by the West over Moscow's 2022 attack of its neighbour.
"The confiscation of Russian assets should become a reliable source of support for our state and funding for our recovery," Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told a press conference.
Ukraine has warned it desperately needs more military and financial assistance, while a fresh $60-billion package of US aid remains stalled in Congress.
Shmygal urged Western countries to act quickly ahead of elections and political changes which could disrupt the efforts.
"We need predictability and stability, regardless of time, regardless of political fluctuations (and) electoral cycles that will take place in the world," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week there was a strong "moral case" for seizing the assets and giving them to Ukraine.
She urged G7 nations to explore options.
Russia has vowed to retaliate if its confiscated assets are redirected to Ukraine and has condemned the proposal as "destructive".
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it blew up a railway bridge in Russia's southwestern Samara region on Monday because it was being used to transport "military cargo".
The incident is the latest in a string of explosions targeting Russia's rail network, which Kyiv says Moscow uses to move troops and equipment for its attack of Ukraine.
"A railway bridge over the Chapaevka River in Russia's Samara region was blown up. On 4 March 2024, at around 6:00 am, the bridge was damaged by blowing up its support structures," Ukraine's military intelligence said.
Russia was using the railway line to transport ammunition from a plant in the town of Chapayevsk, it said.
"Given the nature of the damage to the railway bridge, its use will not be possible for a long time," it added.
Russia's railway operator announced earlier that "an intervention by non-authorised persons" had caused the incident but said that no-one had been injured.
"An explosive device damaged a pillar on a rail bridge" over the Chapaevka river, Russia's official TASS agency quoted a source in the rescue services as saying. — AFP
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