White House Supports Confiscation of Russian Assets for Ukraine's Benefit

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden backs an initiative that would allow it to seize a portion of the frozen $300 billion worth of Russian assets for the purpose of transferring them to Ukraine. Bloomberg reports this, citing a memorandum from the National Security Council to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

This matter has become pressing amidst challenges in Congress, where Republicans are currently blocking the allocation of over $60 billion in aid for Ukraine.

"The bill will grant the executive branch the necessary authority for the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets in favour of Ukraine," states the National Security Council memorandum, one of three such notices shared with the agency.

Congress is considering the possibility of adopting this decision as part of an additional support package for Ukraine. Inclusion in the agenda requires signatures from leaders of committees in both chambers. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, expressed support for this idea in an interview with the New York Post, calling it "an extremely responsible matter for us." According to one of the bill's authors, Republican Senator Jim Risch, there is broad bipartisan agreement on this issue in the Senate.

The Biden administration also seeks to coordinate this move with G7 partners, especially in Europe, where approximately $200 billion of frozen Russian assets are located. Not all European countries support this step, hence the coordination efforts.

It is expected that this issue will be discussed at the G7 leaders' meeting in February. The U.S. National Security Council views this move as part of a set of measures to forcibly recover compensation from Russia for war-induced losses. According to the World Bank, Ukraine's recovery may require around $411 billion.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reported progress on the issue of confiscating Russian assets for Ukraine and expressed hope that unified legal frameworks for this purpose could be approved by 2024.

The Gaze also reported that as of January 3, the European Union expanded sanctions against the Russian industrial sector, adding the Russian diamond mining giant "Alrosa" and its CEO to the sanctions list. According to the relevant document, "Alrosa" is identified as the world's largest state-owned diamond producer, responsible for over 90% of the total diamond production in Russia. The EU Council explained that, given these figures, "Alrosa" is a key player in the economic sector, generating significant revenue for the Russian Federation government.