Report: US Wants Frozen Russian Funds to Aid Ukraine

The United States is pushing other Western nations to use some $300 billion in frozen Russian funds to aid Ukraine, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

According to the report, U.S. officials are asking the holders of various frozen Russian bank accounts in the West to use those assets to aid Ukraine as the United States and European countries come up against roadblocks to the continued use of taxpayer money.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Belgium's prime minister said his country is creating a $1.8 billion fund of taxes collected on frozen Russian central bank reserve money that will go to the war-torn country.

The new fund will include $1.7 billion in interest earned on the frozen assets.

"The assets and the proceeds, that's an EU decision. We have no competency on that," Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "The taxation on the proceeds — that we get. And we have decided that 100% of the taxation on the proceeds is going to the Ukrainian people."

The report said the nations involved have debated seizing the underlying Russian assets since the early days of the war, but so far are using only the taxes and profits generated to aid Ukraine.

During a conference in Morocco on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it was "crucial" to continue economic support to Ukraine.

"Russia's unprovoked and horrific war has led to the terrible suffering of the Ukrainian people and massive economic damage," she said during a roundtable discussion on the issue. "It has also led to devastating effects on food security around the world caused by Russia's callous targeting of Ukraine's agricultural export infrastructure and its recent withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. It is crucial that we increase our support for countries around the world dealing with these impacts."

Yellen said the sanctions on Russia by the United States and other "coalition" countries will continue.

"In response to Russia's war of choice, our historic sanctions coalition will continue restricting Russia's access to the technology, equipment, and funds it needs to supply its military," she said. "That includes through our price cap on Russian oil and refined petroleum products, which has successfully targeted Russia's key source of revenue while maintaining stability in global oil markets."

The Post's report said that using the frozen money could take months or more than a year to process, and so is not a substitute for immediate aid.

According to the Journal, most of the frozen money is held by European nations, including two-thirds held by Belgian-based clearinghouse Euroclear.

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