Paul Jones
G7 leaders are set to agree about $50bn for Ukraine by front-loading earnings from $300bn in frozen Russian sovereign assets, most located in Belgium.
Details of the complex financial arrangement still need to be worked out. The agreement effectively replaces a less generous European Union (EU) decision in May to send smaller amounts of the earnings on frozen assets, which currently amount to about $3bn per year. The $50bn would get Ukraine well past the upcoming US and EU political transitions, obviating the need for another US congressional supplemental until well into 2025.
There is a deal, but the arguments have not ended. The US will continue to seek a transfer of the entire $300bn-plus in frozen Russian assets — not just the windfall earnings — which would make a much greater contribution to what has become a war of attrition. It is not cheap to fund an intensive 21st-century war along a 600-mile front for a country of around 40 million people.
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