2024-07-27 19:49:19
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters today that there was a prospect of the G7 agreeing by October on the terms of a $50bn loan to Ukraine, backed by proceeds from Russian asset freezes.
Yellen said in an interview on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Brazil that talks on the loan had been constructive, including on US demands for assurances that the assets would remain frozen for a longer period of time.
“We’ve had constructive conversations here. And we’re working closely together to try to move the issue forward,” Yellen said.
The $50 billion loan, agreed in principle by G7 leaders in June, will be serviced by proceeds generated from about $300 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen in the West after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 While there is no unanimous support among the G7 for the full $300 billion asset freeze, the bloc agrees that it is legally possible to use the profits that the frozen assets generate.
But Yellen said the US was pressuring Europe for guarantees that the assets would remain frozen for a sufficiently long period of time. This is to ensure that the profits from these assets will be able to repay the loan until a peace agreement is reached that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and compensates it for the damage caused by the Russian invasion, writes BTA.