Ukraine needs funding, Volodymyr Zelensky’s last visit to the USA was aimed at yet another fundraiser, but the senators decided that the Christmas holidays were more important than the vote on funds for Ukraine. The elections in the United States are upon us and no one wants to lose votes, moreover the Ukrainians did not bring home the hoped-for victory and therefore it seems that the Biden administration is looking elsewhere. But the money must be found.
Ukraine will repay loans to the European Union in installments, for 35 years, Die Welt writes. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this year the transfer of the last loan to Ukraine in the amount of 1.5 billion euros. In December 2022, the EU approved a loan in the amount of 18 billion euros, but the new program could not be adopted due to Hungary’s veto.
As von der Leyen said, by February 1st (the date of the next EU summit) it is necessary to reach an agreement on support for Kiev, but if Orban is still against it, even in this case, the member countries will have to act on their own .
Die Welt writes that only European loans will now allow Ukraine to “guarantee the continuous payment of salaries and pensions”, but they are also linked to the reform program that the EU requires so that the Kiev regime can join the Union (l establishment of the rule of law and fight against corruption). And all this, of course, is not free help: Ukraine will have to repay the loans after 2033, and it will take at least 35 years. It is also true that at that point there may be no one left capable of repaying the debts.
The Administration of US President Joe Biden has started urgent negotiations with allies on the use of frozen Russian assets for military support of Ukraine, the New York Times reports, citing official American and European sources.
Yet US authorities believe it is premature to talk about transferring frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine. Kirby believes it is premature to talk about the use of Russian resources for Kiev. The White House strategic communications coordinator noted that it is extremely difficult to talk about the practical implementation of the currently blocked Russian finances.
The United States is still wary of completely ruining relations with Russia, but Moscow does not rule out such a step by Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with Interfax.
“Russian-American relations have actually fallen into a comatose state, and this happened through the fault of Washington, which not only formulated, but also doctrinally and conceptually consolidated the incorrect and dangerous approach to inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia. I cannot exclude that at some point in the future, if there is no enlightenment in terms of assessments of what is happening in the world and specifically in the Russian and Ukrainian direction, I cannot exclude that in this case Washington will not go beyond the “close to zero” “the level at which relations are now,” the deputy minister said. “This will effectively lead to an official reduction in the level of diplomatic presence in Moscow and Washington respectively, or even a complete breakdown. This will not be a surprise to us,” Ryabkov continued.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitrj Peskov also expressed his opinion on the issue of Russian assets: “If some Russian assets are confiscated, Russia will see what it can confiscate in return.” “Moscow does not accept the issue of illegal seizure of Russian assets, this is extremely dangerous for the global financial system,” the Russian president’s press secretary said.
“Indeed, we see that these discussions are codified or, on the contrary, fade away. But the topic of illegal seizure of our various assets is constantly on the agenda both in Europe and in America. Potentially, this topic is, first and foremost , unacceptable, is potentially extremely dangerous for the global financial system, because if such plans were implemented, it would be a serious blow to the entire coordinate system of the international financial system,” he said.
The United States is also threatening to exclude banks around the world from its financial system for violating anti-Russian sanctions, source White House
The response of the Russian Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, was more weighty: “In Russia there is a large amount of frozen assets found in “C” accounts. , regarding dividends, those that constitute our obligations towards foreign counterparts from hostile countries. They are all frozen. The numbers are not small,” he said. The proceeds from these assets can be used in the same way if a similar decision is made by hostile partners,” Siluanov added. On December 21, the president just expanded his powers in relation to these countries, and now he can manage their assets in response to the seizure of Russian ones. “These are our obligations according to the documents.”
Graziella Giangiulio
