Unprecedented Confiscation Of Russian Assets

Even the Trump presidency won’t stop it.

In the House of Representatives of the US Congress, a bill on the transfer of $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine was adopted by a margin of 99 votes. At the same time, they adopted a law on the confiscation of Russian assets in American banks. The Mozhem Obyasnit ("We can explain") Telegram channel figured out how this law will work:

The law on the freezing of Russian assets – REPO (Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity) will provide a legal basis for the transfer of Russian state assets to Ukraine. This money will be used to restore the economy of Ukraine and compensate for the military damage caused by the Kremlin.

The volume of confiscated funds is $6 billion. This is the full volume of Russian assets that were in American banks and were frozen after the outbreak of the war. Most of the Russian funds ($300 billion) are still in European banks (in Germany, France and Belgium).

The US President was given the authority to confiscate the assets of the Russian Federation and subsequently transfer the money to two funds: the Compensation Fund and the Support Fund for Ukraine.

The bill on confiscation has not yet entered into force – it must pass a vote in the Senate. However, the Americanist Oleksandra Filippenko called this vote a formality: the experience of the previous bill on assistance to Ukraine shows that the majority in the Senate will support this initiative.

Filippenko notes that it will not be possible to unfreeze Russian assets even if Trump comes to power: "The bill has a "Trump fuse" – frozen assets cannot be unfrozen until Russia withdraws troops from Ukraine. Including Crimea."