A group of US senators has urged the administration of President Donald Trump to release more than USD 300 billion in frozen russian assets to Ukraine. Previously, the White House used only interest from these funds to help Kyiv.
According to Reuters, the letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was signed by Republican senators Todd Young and Lindsey Graham, as well as Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Tim Kaine. In it, they ask:
"Specifically, does the Administration believe that U.S. and EU-held assets should be used as leverage in negotiations with Russia to bring an end to the war? If so, how?"
The senators are also interested in whether the White House believes that frozen russian assets should be used as leverage in negotiations with moscow, and if so, how.
Political pressure on the White House
As Reuters notes, the letter is one of the rare instances in which influential Republicans have publicly called on the Trump administration to take a tougher stance on russia.
"Pro-Ukraine Republicans in Congress have been largely quiet since Trump tilted U.S. policy more toward Russia, which started the war with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022," the article says.
The letter was sent a few days before the start of talks between the US and russian delegations in Saudi Arabia. The US is trying to reach agreements on a ceasefire at sea, which could be a step towards a broader truce.
The issue of frozen assets
After the war began, the US and its European allies blocked russian sovereign assets worth USD 300-350 billion. These funds are stored in the form of government bonds in financial institutions in Europe and the US.
According to Reuters, only about USD 7 billion is located in the United States. European countries are still discussing the legal aspects of the possible use of these assets, considering several options.
So far, the United States and the EU have agreed only to use the interest income from frozen assets to provide loans to Ukraine, but not the funds themselves.
In 2024, the US Congress passed the "Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act", which allows the US President to transfer confiscated russian assets to Ukraine.
Russia, on the other hand, calls such initiatives "theft". According to Western media, moscow may agree to use some of the frozen assets to restore Ukraine, but insists that some of the funds go to the territories under its occupation.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the European Union will not confiscate russian assets until russia stops its aggressive war against Ukraine and compensates for the damage caused by its actions.
On March 7, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine had received the first GBP 752 million (about USD 1 billion) under the G7 ERA initiative from the United Kingdom.
On March 13, Ukraine received the first tranche from Canada of frozen russian assets.
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