Ukraine needs a real mechanism that will enable Russian frozen assets to work for the country in the coming months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
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Zelenskiy said in his evening video address that the topic was discussed with Ukraine’s partners on August 21 “to bring real decisions closer to the promised $50 billion from frozen Russian assets.”
There has been a lot of discussion in the past about the transfer of the funds to Ukraine, but Zelenskiy said that despite these statements Ukraine still needs a real mechanism.
"It is necessary that the funds from the aggressor's assets work for real assistance in defense against the aggressor," he said. "Relevant discussions have been going on for too long, and finally solutions are needed."
Western countries froze some 276 billion euros ($300 billion) in sovereign Russian wealth funds following Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In June, the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries decided to service a $50 billion loan for Ukraine with proceeds generated by the so-called immobilized assets.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has suggested that the G7 could agree on the terms of providing Ukraine with a $50 billion loan secured by the assets by October.
Yellen said in June that there was "no legal problem" in providing Ukraine with the loan. She also rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusation that the use of income from Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine was theft.
Most of the frozen Russian sovereign funds -- some 210 billion euros ($228 billion) -- are held in Europe, while about $10 billion ($11.1 billion) is in the United States, the news website Euractiv.com estimates. Some $30 billion ($33.4 billion) are in Japan, and $10 billion in Britain.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced last month that 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) of “proceeds from immobilized Russian assets” would be transferred to Ukraine for defense and reconstruction.
"There is no better symbol or use for the Kremlin's money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” von der Leyen said on July 26.
In reaction to von der Leyen's announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not leave the EU's move unanswered but said Moscow's response had to be carefully planned.
The Foreign Ministry said that “any encroachment on Russian state property under the guise of any contrived ‘reparation mechanism’ would be nothing more than theft at the state level."
Western countries have discussed the possible confiscation of the frozen assets, but it is associated with greater legal difficulties than using the proceeds from them.