EU specialist media Uraktive reports… EU ambassadors meeting scheduled for the 8th
U.S. plans to provide $50 billion in aid to Ukraine, including windfall profits
[서울=뉴시스] Reporter Choi Dong-jun = On the 27th, an employee is organizing rubles at the counterfeit and alteration response center of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. On the 26th, the value of the Russian ruble against the dollar hit its lowest point in 15 months. 2023.06.27. [email protected]
[서울=뉴시스] Reporter Myungdong Lee = The European Union (EU) is discussing ways to utilize the profits generated from Russia’s frozen assets. The United States‘ position is to use $50 billion (approximately 67.95 trillion won) of Russia’s ‘windfall profits’ to support Ukraine. Russia’s frozen assets are estimated at $300 billion (about 407.7 trillion won).
According to EU specialized media outlet Uraktiv on the 4th (local time), ambassadors from EU member countries will exchange opinions on a compromise on the use of profits from Russia’s frozen assets on the 8th ahead of the G7 summit next month. If a compromise is reached at the meeting, it is highly likely that it will be confirmed at the EU Finance Ministers’ meeting on the 14th.
At the meeting, various details are expected to be discussed, such as requiring financial institutions to separately account for profits generated from Russia’s frozen assets and store them in designated accounts, and creating a framework for using such profits.
After long discussions, the EU is coming together to support Ukraine through windfall profits from Russia’s frozen assets. However, conscious of legal instability, we have been cautious in disposing of profits.
If the plan is agreed upon, profits from Russian assets are expected to be used to fund the joint purchase of weapons to support Ukraine. Most of Russia’s frozen assets are tied up in Euroclear, an international depository and clearing institution located in Belgium.
[히로시마=AP/뉴시스]Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (center) held the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan on the 21st. Clockwise from left: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Risi Sunnack, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU Summit (Council) President Charles Michel Chairman, Italian Ambassador to Japan Jean-Luigi Benedetti, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron. 2023.05.26.
Belgium, where the funds were frozen, is said to be considering a plan to hand over the proceeds to Ukraine’s artillery supply plan as there was controversy over levying taxes on them.
The reason the EU is accelerating its use of windfall profits is because Hungary, which has a pro-Russian government, will assume the rotating presidency of the EU Council starting in July. Most EU member states believe that Hungary should enforce this before it can exert strong influence on the use of Russian frozen asset profits.
The United States is expected to take a strong stance along with Canada and the United Kingdom. In particular, the United States is said to be considering a plan to provide $50 billion in aid to Ukraine from several countries and to cover a significant portion of the funds from profits from Russia’s frozen assets.
The proposal is being discussed among G7 countries and is being promoted toward agreement at the G7 summit to be held in Puglia, Italy from the 13th to the 15th of next month.
Germany, France, Italy, and Japan are maintaining a cautious stance considering monetary stability and legal retaliation from Russia.
Last month, Russia threatened that it was considering downgrading diplomatic relations with the United States if the United States took practical steps to confiscate Russian frozen assets.
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