The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine, with the massive outlay being repaid with the windfall profits from sovereign Russian assets that have been frozen — and are accruing interest — mostly in Europe.
The plan is being discussed among the Group of Seven nations, with the U.S. pushing to have an agreement when G-7 leaders meet in Italy in June, according to people familiar with the proposal. Discussions on this topic have been difficult and an agreement could still take months, they said.
The plan signals a strong show of support from Washington after Congress approved $61 billion in assistance for Kyiv in April that had been held up for months due to partisan wrangling. The move will also put renewed pressure on the European Union to drop its objections to utilizing the immobilized Russian assets.
Spokespeople for the U.S. Treasury Department and White House National Security Council declined to comment.
When asked about this type of proposal in which the U.S. or a subset of G-7 countries puts up the money, which the EU would repay using the frozen assets, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that “it’s something we’re discussing.”
“Ideally, this is something we would like the entire G-7 to participate in, be part of, not just have the United States doing it alone,” she told Bloomberg in an interview Friday in Sedona, Ariz.
The delay in financial and military aid has prompted increasingly urgent warnings from officials in Kyiv of the risk of a Russian breakthrough in the war as Ukrainian forces struggled with dwindling supplies of munitions.
The latest development follows months of discussion among allies over how to take on board European fears about EU exposure to risks of using the frozen Russian assets, while also putting aid for Ukraine on a more sustainable footing.
Most European nations have pushed back against outright confiscation of the assets and have been skeptical of proposals they fear would undermine the euro’s stability or expose them to Russian retaliation. The U.S. push essentially boils down to finding a way to provide Ukraine with the largest possible support quickly rather than in smaller amounts, by better mobilizing the profits produced by the frozen assets, said the people.
With President Joe Biden facing a challenge from his Republican predecessor Donald Trump in November’s election, a key element of the U.S. push is also to shield allied assistance to Ukraine from political shifts on both sides of the Atlantic.
