Canada looks to sell off Russian oligarchs' assets to compensate Ukraine

Canada is seeking novel powers to seize and sell off Russian oligarchs' assets to compensate Ukraine for war damages, while announcing on Wednesday (April 27) sanctions against 203 people in the breakaway Donbas region.

It would become the first Group of 7 (G-7) nation to permit such asset forfeitures, and is proposing allies follow suit, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters in Ottawa.

"There was a weak link in (our) sanctions package, which was the ability for the government to be able to sell the assets that were seized and afterwards to use the profits to compensate the victims of this war against Ukraine," she said.