US deems use of Russian assets to support Ukraine as legal

Photo: Flags of Ukraine and the United States in Washington (Getty Images)

It is legal to use the proceeds of Russian assets frozen in the West to support Ukraine. There are no legal objections to this, according to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Thus, the American official responded to criticism of the G7's decision to allocate $50 billion to Kyiv on the security of these revenues.

Janet Yellen notes that the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation frozen in Western countries will remain untouched (we are talking about 260 billion euros, most of which are stored in the European depository Euroclear). At the same time, Russia is not entitled to interest on the investment of these funds, which annually amount to 2.5 to 3.5 billion euros.

She adds that there is no legal problem here.

Last week, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin called the G7 plan theft and threatened that it would not go unpunished. The Russian Foreign Ministry also threatened retaliatory measures and added that the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine is another blow to international law.

On June 14, the Group of Seven (G7) countries decided to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan by the end of the year. It will be repaid from the profits from Russian assets.