Yellen urges world leaders to 'unlock' frozen Russian Central Bank assets and send them to Ukraine

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 8:05 AM EST, February 27, 2024


WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday offered her strongest public support yet for the idea of liquidating roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets and using them for Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction.

“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 said in remarks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting this week.

“I believe there is a strong international law, economic, and moral case for moving forward. This would be a decisive response to Russia’s unprecedented threat to global stability,” she said.

The United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Those billions have been sitting untapped as the war grinds on, now in its third year, while officials from multiple countries have debated the legality of sending the money to Ukraine. More than two-thirds of Russia’s immobilized central bank funds are located in the EU.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/yellen-russia-ukraine-war-central-bank-finance-85e080fd78e9d37951e1e7dcd58fdc87

[et tu]

1. past time, 'just do it'

[riversedge]

2. Agree

[Wild blueberry]

3. Good way to honor Alexei Navalny

And good for world. Except Pootie, of course, may he rot in hell.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. What's the hold up?

Those billions have been sitting untapped as the war grinds on, now in its third year, while officials from multiple countries have debated the legality of sending the money to Ukraine.
Snip...
...weaponization of global finance could harm the U.S. dollar’s standing as the world’s dominant currency.

Yellen said Tuesday that it is “extremely unlikely” that tapping the frozen funds would harm the dollar’s standing in the global economy “especially given the uniqueness of the situation where Russia is brazenly violating international norms.

The only protestations I've read about have been from the Russians. Does anyone else have any additional information about this?

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "What's the hold up?" - Europe

Last line in the OP excerpts -

More than two-thirds of Russia’s immobilized central bank funds are located in the EU.

For 30 years, they had gone all-in with Russia for energy (oil & LNG) and other things and now it has been extremely difficult for them to extract themselves out of all those arrangements.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. I mean what are the specific concerns? I looked and looked and only found generalities.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. It's still winter there

and they don't want Russia to completely cut off their natural gas if Pootie gets pissed before they are completely severed from Russia as an energy source.

https://ecfr.eu/article/conscious-uncoupling-europeans-russian-gas-challenge-in-2023/

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-natural-gas-european-union-dependence-ukraine-war/32754244.html

This also applies to nuclear-related items that Europe uses for their nuclear plants - https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-12-01/exclusive-eu-nuclear-agency-sees-some-russia-imports-up-again-in-2023-from-before-ukraine-war