The US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill that would help Washington confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine in compensation for the devastation caused by the Russian war.
If the legislative bill, On Restoration of Economic Prosperity and Opportunities for Ukrainians is passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and then signed by President Joe Biden, it will pave the way for the US’ first confiscation of assets belonging to the central bank of a country with which it is not at war.
Senator Ben Cardin is optimistic that the bill will become law, noting that it has broad support from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as from the Biden administration. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a similar bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.
The EU, the US, Japan, and Canada collectively froze about $300B in the Russian Central Bank’s assets in 2022.