A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that obliges Washington to regularly transfer frozen Russian assets in the US to Ukraine. This was reported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, UNN reports.
Details
The document, in particular, provides for the repurposing of frozen Russian sovereign assets held in the US for transfer to Ukraine every 90 days. It is based on the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act, which was adopted in April 2024.
The bill was authored by US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat from New Hampshire), Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat from Rhode Island), Jim Risch (Republican from Idaho), Chuck Grassley (Republican from Iowa), Richard Blumenthal (Democrat from Connecticut), and Lindsey Graham (Republican from South Carolina).
Repurposing Russia's frozen sovereign assets is a necessary step to provide Ukraine with the resources to defend itself and rebuild its communities. It is important that such an approach allows us to continue supporting Ukraine without additional costs to American taxpayers.
In turn, Whitehouse pointed out that Russia's frozen sovereign assets are "the most appropriate target for providing Ukraine with the support it needs to defend and rebuild."
REPO 2.0 will encourage the Trump administration and our G7 allies to begin confiscating frozen Russian assets and distributing them to Ukraine on a set schedule to increase economic pressure on Putin.
According to Risch, more than $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets remain frozen worldwide today.
"Given Russia's brutality against the Ukrainian people, it was entirely appropriate that Russian government funds in the US were seized and repurposed to help Ukraine rebuild under the REPO Act. Now the law will encourage our allies to use Russian assets in their countries for the same purpose and will ensure the pragmatic use of assets under US control," the senator is convinced.
Recall
According to Bloomberg, European governments and G7 allies seek to expand the use of frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. This comes amid pressure from Donald Trump and a change in Germany's position, which now supports maximizing the profitability of the funds.