White House supports confiscation of Russian assets in favor of Ukraine

The Biden administration is supporting a bill that would allow it to seize some of the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to give them to Ukraine. Bloomberg reports citing a memorandum from the National Security Council to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The bill would give the executive branch the powers necessary to confiscate Russian sovereign assets in favor of Ukraine.

Biden’s support for the move comes as Republicans in Congress have been blocking more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, in part because of concerns that Washington is bearing too much of the financial burden, the newspaper notes.

The US presidential administration also wants to coordinate this move with G7 allies, especially in Europe, where about $200 billion of frozen Russian assets are held and where there is less support for their seizure, especially unilaterally.