Putin's words are meaningless: US sharply shows Russia its place over money for Ukraine

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's accusations against the United States and other countries of stealing the proceeds of frozen assets are groundless. After the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, they were confiscated, so the Kremlin lost the rights to these assets.

This was stated by U.S. Treasury Secretary Ellen Yellen on ABC, voicing the White House's position. She reminded that the financial institutions of the G7 countries and their partners hold Russian sovereign assets equivalent to about $280 billion.

The vast majority of the assets ($200 billion) are kept in the international depository Euroclear in Belgium. All the profits that the Kremlin expected to receive were also frozen by the financial institution. Instead, the funds will be used to repay a $50 billion loan to Ukraine to help it deal with the consequences of a full-scale Russian invasion.

"It is ridiculous to consider this a theft. Russian assets remain in this institution. They were confiscated. The investments that were in Russia have matured. The Russian assets are in cash, but Russia cannot claim the income generated for the institution," Yellen explained.

She noted that the G7 "has made it clear that they will not unfreeze these assets until Russia compensates Ukraine for the damage it has caused."

"We are fighting a battle of wills with Putin. Putin is waiting for the collapse of our coalition, for us to stop supporting Ukraine with the resources necessary to fight this war and support its economy. But this is a way to show that we have the capacity and the will to continue to do so," the US minister added.

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