G7 gets closer to handing over Russian frozen assets to Ukraine – FT

About US$300 billion of Russian sovereign assets have been frozen in Europe and the US for over a year now, and Western countries are getting closer to transferring these funds to Ukraine.

Source: Financial Times (FT)

Details: The EU and the US have been hesitant to take a decisive step to transfer this money to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country, but the situation seems to be changing. The reason for this lies primarily in the crisis of financing Ukrainian expenditures out of the West's pocket.

The US and EU funding situation for Ukraine has been deteriorating in November and December 2023, and due to some politicians' stance, Ukraine cannot receive tens of billions of dollars, prompting an effort to find alternative ways.

"A US official said Washington was engaged in active conversations on the use of Russian sovereign assets and believed there was a short timeline to make a decision. They suggested it could be discussed at a possible G7 leaders’ meeting," the article stated.

The EU's approach is rather cooler and primarily seeks to curtail profits for Russian companies.

"And more and more countries are pointing at the assets and wondering why they are still sitting there," a European diplomat told FT.

Background: In December, the European Commission is to approve a legal proposal to use the proceeds of Russian assets frozen under sanctions in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The European Commission will develop a new version of the proposal to finance aid to Ukraine and other new expenditures, but there is already a commitment from countries to fund the programme.

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