The Daily Populous Wednesday December 11st, 2024 morning edition
Authored by bbc.com and submitted by TheFrederalGovt

US gives $20bn to Ukraine funded by seized Russian assets

The US has given $20bn (£15bn) to Ukraine, funded by the profits of seized Russian assets. The economic support forms a significant part of a $50bn (£39bn) package agreed by G7 member nations announced in June. Funding the aid through frozen assets means Russia has to "bear the costs of its illegal war, instead of taxpayers," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. It comes a matter of weeks before US President Joe Biden is replaced by Donald Trump, who has said he wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly upon taking office.

The president-elect has characterised financial support to Kyiv as a drain on US resources, casting doubt on whether aid will continue under the new administration. The US Treasury said on Tuesday that it had transferred the $20bn to a World Bank fund, where it will be available for Ukraine to draw from. Money handled by the World Bank cannot be used for military purposes. The administration had hoped to dedicate half of the money to military aid, the Reuters news agency reported, but this would have required approval from Congress. There were months of delay, amid political wrangling in the House of Representatives, before $61bn of military aid for Ukraine was approved in April.

redheadedandbold on December 11st, 2024 at 01:15 UTC »

Funny how Hannity left that "from seized Russian assets" out of his promo's rant about Biden giving money to Ukraine...

green_flash on December 11st, 2024 at 00:19 UTC »

> President Joe Biden's administration initially sought to split the $20 billion loan in half, with $10 billion to be used for military aid and $10 billion for economic aid, but the military portion would have required approval by Congress, a task made more difficult by Republicans' sweeping election victory. With Tuesday's transfer, the full amount will be devoted to non-military purposes.

That's actually better. Non-military purposes funding is a lot more difficult for Ukraine to acquire.

Elisian_Knight on December 10th, 2024 at 22:12 UTC »

Fair amount of pocket change.

Thanks Russian assets. 5/5 stars would seize again.