Republicans oppose Democrats’ plan to fund Ukraine with seized Russian assets
Washington PostNov 28, 2022
Report: Western Nations Mull Funding Ukraine With Frozen Russian Assets
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The Facts
As Ukraine's allies face shrinking support for aid packages to Kyiv — including a US Congressional stalemate — more Western officials are signing on to the idea of using frozen Russian assets as a funding mechanism. While lawmakers in Europe and Washington seek to find legal ways to utilize $300B of Russian central bank funds, which are mostly sitting in Europe, the US Biden administration also wants to find more immediate funding methods.
As the US — which has frozen a total of roughly $600B in Russian funds — and the Group of Seven (G7) allies are seeking legal means to do so, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington is pushing legislation called the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, which includes the use of frozen assets. This comes as the World Bank estimates Ukraine's 10-year recovery will cost $411B.
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
While Putin was somewhat successful in hiding his true desires earlier on in this conflict, he is now openly using words like "conquest" when referring to his military ambitions. If the West wasn't sure about the threat of Russian expansion before, they certainly should be now. It is now critical to unlock all sources of funding for Ukraine to push back on the Kremlin.
Pro-Russia narrative
If Russia was seen as a threat to countries other than Ukraine, why would European stalwarts like Germany vote 485-178 in parliament against sending long-range missiles to Kyiv? Even if Ukraine was given all these fancy weapons and ammunition, it wouldn't change the outcome of this conflict. Ukraine is being strung along with small handouts until the world finally stops caring.
