Yellen calls for seizure of Russian profits

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday it was urgent for G7 nations to jointly seize profits from frozen Russian assets and redirect them to Ukraine, as the group prepared to meet on the issue.

Calls have been mounting in the US and Europe to set up a fund for Ukraine using billions of dollars in bank accounts, investments and other assets frozen by the West over Russia’s 2022 invasion.

“It is necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these immobilized assets to support Ukraine’s continued resistance and long-term reconstruction,” Yellen told journalists in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she will attend a meeting of G20 finance ministers Wednesday and Thursday.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov called the proposal “destructive” in comments to journalists in Sao Paulo. He warned such a move would undermine the global financial system by making countries’ overseas assets subject to political decisions, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

Yellen urged joint action by the Group of Seven — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US, plus the European Union — after evaluating the risks, which include triggering financial instability.

“The G7 should work together to explore a number of approaches: seizing the assets themselves, using them as collateral to borrow from global markets,” she said.

The G7 is due to meet Wednesday on the sidelines of the Sao Paulo gathering to discuss support for Ukraine, as its grueling fight against Russia enters its third year.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she agreed “100 percent” with Yellen.

The plan would mean Ukraine would “quite literally have the assets to endure and keep on going,” she told a news conference in Ottawa.

Yellen’s comments came as US President Joe Biden held a tense meeting with top congressional leaders where he urged Republican House speaker Mike Johnson to unblock aid for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet with Balkan leaders in Albania on Wednesday, seeking to keep support and weapons flowing to Kyiv as Russia makes gains on the battlefield two years after invading its neighbor.

He arrived in Albania late Tuesday and on Wednesday was set to meet in Tirana with several leaders from across the region during the “Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit” — his first visit to the Balkan nation since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.