A group of US senators from both parties have introduced a bill that would require Washington to regularly transfer frozen Russian assets in the US to Kiev.
According to the document published on Friday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, certain amendments should be made to the laws signed by the 46th US President Joe Biden in 2024, which provide for the US government to seize frozen Russian assets and provide military aid to Ukraine.
According to lawmakers from both parties, the Washington administration should start transferring these funds to Kiev “every 90 days“. The US Secretary of State is expected to allocate no less than $250 million to Ukraine during this period.
According to the bill, the Washington administration must "actively and consistently continue diplomatic efforts to persuade" other countries to also begin using at least 5% of frozen Russian assets in the interests of Ukraine. According to estimates by US lawmakers, this should initially affect approximately $15 billion. Senators believe that other countries should also transfer funds to Kiev at least once every 90 days.
In addition, the senators want to require the Washington administration to submit a report on the volume of Russian assets, including frozen ones held outside the United States.
The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan have frozen approximately $300 billion in Russian assets since the start of a special military operation. Of this, approximately $5-6 billion is located in the United States, and the majority is in Europe, including the international platform Euroclear in Belgium, where $210 billion is stored. As representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry have warned, Moscow will immediately take steps in response to the possible confiscation of its assets in the West.