Could buy all the F-16 fighters in the world: what Ukraine's partners can do with Russia's frozen money

If Western partners used Russia's frozen assets to purchase F-16s for Ukraine, they could theoretically buy all the F-16s in the world. We are talking about about $300 billion of the Russian central bank's funds that have been blocked in Western accounts.

According to OBOZ.UA, this amount would be enough to buy 10 thousand repaired and modernized F-16A/B aircraft, which are about 35 years old. If we talk about new planes, Russian $300 billion could be enough to purchase 4687 aircraft.

At the same time, according to publicly available data, there are only about 4,600 F-16s in use in the world. It should be borne in mind that not all of them are new, so the cost of some of the fighters will be lower.

The calculations were based on data from the Militarny portal. Experts noted that a 35-year-old F-16A/B costs $20-30 million.

And the manufacturer's estimated cost of the new F-16V Block 70/72 is $64 million. However, this does not include weapons, personnel training, and related costs.

Of course, all figures are approximate. In addition, it is obvious that no country will sell Ukraine the fighters it needs for its own defense. However, this once again emphasizes how voluminous a resource frozen Russian assets are.

So far, Western partners have promised to provide Ukraine with about 80 F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2024. And according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the short-term need for such aircraft was 128 aircraft.

If only used aircraft are supplied, it would cost $3.84 billion, which is a little more than one hundredth of the total amount of Russian assets.

Confiscation of Russia's assets: Ukraine is demanding $300 billion, but so far has received only $50 billion.

Ukraine's goal is to confiscate all $300 billion of frozen Russian assets. This position was once again voiced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a press conference on September 10.

He emphasized that the $50 billion loan secured by Russia's funds is still considered by Kyiv as an advance. And a number of conditions are attached to the disbursement of these funds.

"Our ultimate goal remains unchanged - to confiscate all $300 billion of frozen Russian assets. We see 50 billion as the first step towards this and as our airbag for the coming years in terms of delays in financing and other unforeseen factors that may occur," the Prime Minister said.

To recap, the European Union (EU) alone has frozen Russian assets worth more than $260 billion. In total, the amount in Western countries is about $300 billion. The United States proposes to use them to issue bonds that will be used to help the Armed Forces.

However, despite the obvious opportunity to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities without spending their own money, the EU countries are in no hurry to approve the confiscation of seized Russian assets. A similar decision has not been made at the level of the Group of Seven (G7: Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, and the United States).

At the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in Washington, DC , European Central Bank (ECB) Governor Christine Lagarde directly criticized the US proposal to use frozen Russian assets to finance military aid to Ukraine. According to Lagarde, this would violate international law.

"So far, the G7 has limited itself to stating that the Russian central bank's funds will not be released. "The G7 countries will keep Russian assets frozen until they get Moscow to pay for the damage caused to Ukraine," reads the joint statement following the meeting in Washington.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russia will essentially be repaying the $50 billion loan to Ukraine. Creditors will receive money from the profits from Russia's seized assets in the EU, the US and partner countries.

Thus, under the terms of the agreement, the United States, the European Union and other participants will provide Ukraine with loans using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets, which will be subsequently returned to the creditors. The loans will be structured in accordance with the internal procedures of each participant.

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