G7 countries reach agreement on using Russian assets

Photo: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (RBC-Ukraine, Vitalii Nosach)

During the June 13 summit, the G7 countries made progress on the issue of using the frozen assets of the Russian Federation in favor of Ukraine, according to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

According to her, the G7 countries have reaffirmed their commitment and reached a political agreement to provide additional financial support to Ukraine in the amount of about $50 billion by the end of the year.

Such support will be provided not through the confiscation of Russian assets, but by using the profits from these assets that accumulate over time.

"You understand perfectly well that today's step is a fundamental political move, which now needs to be quickly defined from a technical point of view, obviously taking into account the frameworks already adopted at the EU level, but this is an unexpected result that I am particularly proud of," she noted.

Frozen Russian assets

Frozen Russian assets constitute a significant portion of its financial reserves, which is one of the key instruments of economic pressure applied by Western countries in response to Russia's aggressive actions.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries, including the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, and others, froze Russian assets amounting to over 300 billion US dollars. These assets include the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Russia, which are held in foreign financial institutions.

At the same time, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis argued that Russian assets could be used as collateral for providing loans to Ukraine.