G7 plan to loan Ukraine $50 billion from frozen Russian assets is legal, Yellen says

The G7’s plan to loan $50 billion to Ukraine to help in its fight against Russia — using the Kremlin’s own frozen assets — is perfectly legal, according to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that any use of the estimated $280 billion in frozen assets amounts to theft, Yellen said Sunday that Moscow has no claim to the interest being earned on the money, after the G7 group of economic powerhouse countries approved the American-led loan plan last week.

“There’s no legal issue here,” Yellen told ABC’s “This Week.”

“There is no sense at all in which it’s theft,” she explained. “The Russian assets remain in this institution. They’ve been impounded.

“The investments that Russia had have matured. So Russia’s funds are sitting in cash, but they’re generating income for the institution which Russia has no claim on,” she concluded.

The G7 agreed on the American proposal Thursday during a summit in Italy. The move allows the world leaders to tap into the interest being accumulated at European banking institutions from the frozen assets to the tune of $50 billion.

Yellen added that the G7 has made it clear to Moscow that the actual assets will remain frozen until Russia agrees to pay for the damages Ukraine has sustained over the past two years of the war, which the Kremlin started.

President Biden touted the plan as a key way to help Ukraine while condemning Russia’s invasion.

“[It’s] another reminder to [Vladimir] Putin: We’re not backing down. In fact, we’re standing together against this illegal aggression,” Biden said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — who previously called on the coalition to tap directly into Russia’s frozen assets to provide aid for Ukraine — also hailed the G7’s decision as a unified stance against Putin.

“It is a strong signal that we are sending to Ukraine that we will support Ukraine in its fight for freedom for as long as it takes,” Leyen said in a statement. “It is also a strong signal to Putin that Putin cannot outlast us.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended the G7 summit, thanked the world leaders for approving the loan as his nation continues to fight against the Russian incursion.

“I am grateful to our partners for their belief in us and our victory,” he said in a post on X.

With Post wires