G7 confirms financing for Ukraine with frozen Russian assets, Biden warns “tyrants” who support invasion
The financing of 50 billion dollars (46 billion euros) to Ukraine with frozen Russian assets, confirmed this Wednesday by the G7, shows that the “tyrants” have to pay for the destruction they cause, said the US President , Joe Biden.
“Tyrants will be held responsible for the damage they cause,” warned Biden with less than two weeks to go before the presidential elections, between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, who will determine his successor.
In June, the leaders of the group of seven largest world economies agreed to grant a large loan to help Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, which began in February 2022. The loans are based on frozen Russian assets, as Interest earned on the profits from these assets would be used as collateral.
Daleep Singh, White House deputy national security advisor for the international economy, indicated this Wednesday that the United States intends to grant a loan of 20 billion dollars (18.5 billion euros). The additional 30 billion dollars (28 billion euros) will come from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, among others.
Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, is the image of the daily challenge of surviving
MACIEK MUSIALEK / ANADOLU / GETTY IMAGES
“To be clear, nothing like this has been done before,” Singh noted, adding that “never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country and then leveraged the value of those assets to finance the defense of the aggrieved party” in a framework of respect for the rule of law and “maintaining solidarity”.
Singh specified that the Biden administration will be able to divide its share between supporting Ukraine’s economy and armed forces, with Congressional action being necessary to send military aid.
“The U.S. will provide $20 billion in support to Ukraine in this effort, whether split between economic and military support or provided entirely through economic aid,” the same source explained, indicating that he expected more details to be defined during the meeting of foreign ministers. finances of the G7, which takes place this week in Stresa, Italy.
The G7 announced in June that the bulk of the loan would be guaranteed by profits made from around $260 billion in tied-up Russian assets. The vast majority of this money is held in European Union countries.
The decision was taken after months of debate over the legality of the measure.
The US and its allies immediately froze all Russian central bank assets they had access to when Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
