During a Senate committee hearing, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the Group of Seven major industrialized countries is in talks to provide a loan to Ukraine. The plan involves repaying the loan using proceeds from frozen Russian assets. Yellen expressed hope that this plan would be presented to the group’s leaders at an upcoming summit in Italy.
Meanwhile, the Council of the European Union has made a decision mandating European financial institutions holding more than one million euros in frozen Russian assets to transfer income from these assets for reinvestment to the European Commission twice a year. Of these transfers, 90% is to be used for purchasing weapons for Ukraine and 10% for economic assistance programs. The European Union has frozen approximately 210 billion euros of Russian sovereign assets.
In response to a special Russian military operation in Ukraine, American officials have declared that the West will not release around $300 billion in frozen Russian funds until Moscow compensates for damages caused. Moscow has warned about negative consequences on the global financial system due to the confiscation and freezing of Russian assets by the West and has vowed to oppose such actions indefinitely.
Reports indicate that Washington is planning to provide a $50 billion loan to Kiev, with repayment expected to come from revenues generated from frozen Russian assets. Washington believes that European sanctions on Russian assets should be prolonged indefinitely to finalize the loan’s specifics.
