A group of US senators from the Republican Party has appealed to President Donald Trump with a demand to confiscate russian assets frozen in the country and transfer them to help Ukraine, writes European Pravda.
The appeal was signed by Republican senators Jim Risch, Roger Wicker, John Kennedy and Rick Scott.
"We appeal to you to use the powers granted to you under the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act and, in coordination with the G7 and European allies, transfer to Ukraine the full amount of russian sovereign assets frozen or immobilized in the United States," the letter states.
The senators emphasize that such a step will open the way to a decision on the use of "USD 162 billion in immobilized russian sovereign assets in the European Union."
"After the seizure, these funds from Europe will be used to purchase weapons from American manufacturers for delivery to Ukraine. This is a profitable deal for America; it will bring orders that will help accelerate the development of our domestic defense industry and ensure Ukraine's ability to defend itself in the near future," the congressmen explain.
The authors of the letter call on Donald Trump to instruct Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent "to take immediate steps to seize approximately USD 5 billion in russian sovereign assets currently frozen in the United States."
"Even if peace is achieved, Ukraine will need to modernize its armed forces, and the use of these assets will ensure that Ukraine can reliably defend itself in the coming years, while at the same time opening up access to more than USD 81 billion in new European investments in the US defense industry," the document says.
At the same time, according to Bloomberg, the US has lobbied a number of European Union countries to block the EU's plans to use frozen russian assets to secure a loan to Ukraine.
At the EU summit, consultations are ongoing on a mechanism for attracting russian assets to financially support Ukraine. Negotiators are cautiously assessing the prospect of agreeing on the basic parameters of the agreement by Friday morning.
As a reminder, Washington does not support the idea of seizing russian assets in the EU.
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