The U.S. Treasury Department said on Dec. 10 that it had provided a $20 billion loan to Ukraine, funded by seized Russian assets, with about a month remaining before the incoming Trump administration takes power.
The department said that the Treasury is fulfilling its October commitment to provide $20 billion in aid, backed by frozen Russian sovereign assets. The aid is supplemented by smaller loans from Britain, Canada, and Japan.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the funds are “paid for by the windfall proceeds earned from Russia’s own immobilized assets” and will provide Kyiv with cash to defend the country against the Russian incursion launched in February 2022.
“The $50 billion collectively being provided by the G7 through this initiative will help ensure Ukraine has the resources it needs to sustain emergency services, hospitals, and other foundations of its brave resistance,” Yellen said, adding the money is designed to allow Ukraine to “defend its sovereignty.”
The $50 billion in credit for 30 years will be serviced with the interest proceeds from some $300 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets that have been immobilized since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The G7 democracies have been discussing the plan for months and agreed on terms in October, before President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.
The Treasury said the funds were transferred to a new World Bank fund called the Facilitation of Resources to Invest in Strengthening Ukraine Financial Intermediary Fund. The global lender’s board approved the creation of the fund in October with only one country, Russia, objecting.
Moscow “is engaging our coalition in a contest of wills, counting on us to tire and ultimately retreat,” Yellen said in her statement. “But, through creative policymaking and the unity of the G7, we are sending an unmistakable message of resolve by making Russia increasingly bear the costs of its illegal war.”
During the 2024 campaign, Trump signaled that he wants Ukraine and Russia to hash out a peace agreement to end the war, which he has described as senseless. He has also criticized the United States for providing billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine since early 2022.
“There should be an immediate cease-fire and negotiations should begin,” Trump said. “Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act.”
