The United States is ready to provide Ukraine with up to $20 billion as part of a G7 loan with repayment of profits made from frozen Russian assets, the Financial Times newspaper reports citing US officials.
“The United States is willing to provide Ukraine with up to $20 billion as part of a G7 loan with repayment of profits received from frozen Russian assets.” – writes the newspaper.
According to sources, the United States will contribute the necessary amount, even despite the veto imposed by the Hungarian prime minister. Victor Orbán to a proposal to extend the freezing period for Russian assets from six months to 36 months.
According to the publication, the loan negotiation process has accelerated, as the West seeks to grant it before the end of the year. It should be noted that if the Republican candidate wins the elections donald trumpthen it will be able to reduce the volume of aid to Kyiv.
G7 finance ministers are expected to make a statement on the terms of the loan on October 25 on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund-World Bank conference in Washington. The annual conference of the IMF and the World Bank will be held in Washington from October 21 to 27, 2024.
As previously reported by Bloomberg, citing sources, the United States told the EU it would provide a $20 billion loan to Ukraine with repayment of proceeds from the frozen assets of Russia’s Central Bank if Brussels increases the duration of its sanctions.
Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen On September 20, he reported that the EC had approved his proposal to EU countries to grant Ukraine a loan worth €35 billion, with repayment from the proceeds of frozen Russian sovereign assets. This will be equivalent to most of the $50 billion loan previously agreed by the G7 countries. In addition, it is planned to increase the freezing period of Russian assets from six to 36 months as part of the anti-Russian community sanctions to provide better loan repayment guarantees. This decision requires unanimity in the EU Council.
Following the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries froze almost half of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, worth approximately 300 billion euros. More than €200 billion is held in the EU, most of it in the accounts of Belgium’s Euroclear, one of the largest settlement and clearing systems in the world.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, pointing out that the EU is not only targeting individual funds, but also state assets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow would be responsible in case of confiscation of Russian assets frozen in the West. According to him, Russia also has the possibility of not returning the funds that Western countries had in the country, RIA Novosti recalls.
