U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gestures during talks with Huang Yiping, dean of National School of Development, at Peking University in Beijing, April 7, 2024. | Pool photo by Tatan SyuflanaThe Biden administration is making a new push this week to rally reluctant allies behind the idea that billions in immobilized Russian assets should be tapped to support Ukraine.
The challenge for Yellen is two-fold. The idea is bipartisan but political resistance is emerging at home from a key ally of former President Donald Trump. The U.S. is also facing unease in Europe, where most of the assets are located. The U.S. Congress has struggled for months to agree on fresh aid to support Ukraine more than two years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion.
“We’re very supportive of ways to make Russia pay the price for the appalling crimes that they’ve committed in Ukraine,” Hunt said. “Our starting point is to look at these proposals, particularly the recent proposal from Secretary Yellen, and say, what would it take to make it work?” House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul, whose committee approved the “REPO Act” legislation, said in a statement that “Senator Vance’s memo repeats many of the same arguments that I’ve heard previously from the Biden Administration as reasons to not enact this policy.”
What may be a bigger problem is international buy-in. Europe is home to the bulk of the assets — around $200 billion, compared to the $5-8 billion in the U.S. — and it’s also where there is deep concern about the legal ramifications, economic fallout and potential Russian retaliation that could arise from tapping the money. European leaders have instead opted to claw back profits from the Russian assets.