The Presidents of the United States and France, Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, discussed the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine during a meeting in Paris.
According to the White House, following the meeting, Biden and Macron supported the idea of transferring the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. This idea was proposed and approved earlier in the EU.
“The Presidents commit to support efforts within the European Union and by the G7 to bring forward the extraordinary profits from the immobilized Russian sovereign assets for the benefit of Ukraine, consistent with international law and our respective legal systems and decision-making processes,” the White House said in a statement.
Using Russian assets to support Ukraine
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian sovereign assets were frozen in Europe and the United States. We are talking about almost $300 billion. Kyiv wants these assets to be confiscated and spent to help Ukraine in its war and reconstruction. However, the West is not yet ready for such a decision.
Earlier, the EU decided to transfer to Ukraine the proceeds from Russia's frozen assets. Most of these funds are to be spent on military support for Ukraine.
The use of Russian assets to support Ukraine will be one of the main issues at the G7 summit in Italy. There have been reports that the G7 is discussing the idea of a $50 billion loan to Ukraine secured by Russian assets. This was a US proposal.