Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during a press conference on Tuesday that seized Russian assets — the majority of which are said to reside in Europe — would generate enough capital to cover the United States $20 billion portion of the G7's $50 billion loan to Ukraine.
"We're very close," Yellen began, "to finalizing Americans' – America's portion of this $50 billion loan package. And what I want to emphasize is that the source of financing for these loans — this is not the American taxpayer. What's happening here is that Russia is paying for this support — the $50 billion of support that we intend to go to Ukraine by the end of this year. It is the income on the assets that have been mobilized, Russian sovereign assets that have been mobilized in Europe, that are at the source of repayment."
Yellen added that the Russian assets would cover the loans should a "truce" be reached.
According to a report from the Transatlantic Dialogue Center, a Ukrainian think tank, "the United States has frozen only $4-5 billion, representing just a tiny fraction of the total amount that could potentially be transferred to Ukraine."
In a report from Politico on the press conference, Yellen also said it'd be tough to secure long-term guarantees for the assets, especially with Hungary resisting changes to EU sanctions. "We have a high degree of confidence that the money will be there and will remain locked down," Yellen stated, addressing fears that the assets could be unfrozen before the loan is repaid.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has already moved forward with its own $38 billion portion of the loan; the U.S. contribution has faced delays as the Biden administration seeks stronger assurances that the frozen Russian assets, the majority of which, again, reside in Europe, will remain immobilized for the duration of the loan.
Nonetheless, Yellen stated that the deal is near completion, again emphasizing that the loan is not backed by American taxpayers. "We asked for some modest strengthening [of sanctions], but feel good that this is a secure loan — that will be serviced by Russian assets — by Russia and not by American taxpayers."