WASHINGTON - 20 September. A group of U.S. senators from both parties has introduced a bill that would require Washington to periodically transfer Russian assets frozen in the U.S. to Kiev. The document, released by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says it requires several changes to a law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2024. These laws allow the US government to seize frozen Russian assets and provide military aid to Ukraine.
According to lawmakers from both sides, the Washington administration in particular should start transferring the aforementioned funds to Kiev "every 90 days." It is believed that the top US diplomat would allocate at least $250 million to Ukraine during this period.
According to the bill, the Washington administration should "mount a robust and sustained diplomatic campaign to persuade U.S. allies" to also begin using at least 5 % of frozen Russian assets in Ukraine's interest. U.S. lawmakers estimate that this would initially amount to about $15 billion. Senators believe other countries should transfer funds to Kiev at least once every 90 days.
The senators also want to require the Washington administration to report on the amount of Russian sovereign assets, including frozen assets, held outside the United States.
Since the launch of the special military operation, the EU, Canada, the US and Japan have frozen approximately $300 billion of Russian assets. Of these, about $5-6 billion are in the US, with the majority in Europe, including $210 billion held on the international Euroclear platform in Belgium. As the Russian Foreign Ministry has warned, Moscow will take immediate action in response to the possible confiscation of its assets in the West.
TASS/gnews.cz-jav