US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni discussed ‘next steps’ on the issue of granting loans to Ukraine at the expense of Russia’s sovereign assets frozen by the West.
The press service of the US Treasury Department made this statement on Thursday, APA reported, citing TASS.
According to a written statement by the ministry, Yellen and Gentiloni met on the margins of the G20 meeting of finance chiefs and central bankers in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). ‘The Secretary and the European Commissioner discussed the next steps towards implementing the commitments made by the G7 leaders in Puglia <…> to assist Ukraine, including long-term reconstruction, to take advantage of Russia’s immobilised sovereign assets,’ the statement said.
Yellen also held bilateral consultations with Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti on the sidelines of the G20 meeting. ‘Secretary Yellen expressed the need to continue working with the European Union and other G7 members to strengthen sanctions regimes that limit Russia’s ability to wage war in Ukraine (special military operation, SWO – TASS note),’ the US financial agency said. In addition, Yellen and Georgetti ‘exchanged views on China’s excessive industrial capacity.’ In this context, the US Treasury Department claims that these alleged Chinese capacities could lead to ‘global adverse spillover effects and price distortions’.
G7 leaders meeting in Italy agreed on 13 June to allocate $50 billion to Ukraine from the proceeds of Russian state assets frozen until the end of the year.
The EU, Canada, the US and Japan froze about $300bn of Russian assets after Moscow launched the SWO. About $5-6 billion of this is in the US, most of it in Europe, including the Euroclear international platform in Belgium ($210 billion is stored there).
As Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has already warned, Moscow will immediately take retaliatory steps to confiscate assets in the West; an arsenal of retaliatory political and economic measures is available.
