Joe Biden will increase pressure on Moscow this Thursday, April 28 by proposing to liquidate the assets of Russian oligarchs to compensate for the damage suffered by Ukraine, and by asking Congress to release an additional 33 billion dollars to respond to the war in Ukraine, including 20 billion in military aid, a senior US official said Thursday.
This huge “military and security assistance” amounts to “weapons and ammunition going to the Ukrainian people”, he added.
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The US president takes the floor at 10:45 a.m. (2:45 p.m. GMT) to reaffirm his "
support for Ukrainians who are defending their country and their freedom against Russia's brutal war
", the White House said.
To this end, he intends to propose to liquidate all or part of the “
kleptocratic
” assets seized from Russian oligarchs and to transfer the proceeds to Kiev “
to compensate for the damage caused by Russian aggression
”, specified the American executive. in a press release.
To do this, he needs the agreement of Congress, from which he will also ask for a large budget extension to be able to continue delivering military equipment to Ukraine.
The United States has already supplied more than $3 billion in weapons to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
The White House is now seeking to obtain sufficient funding to be able to extend this assistance until October.
stumbling
But, in the American Parliament, where the support for kyiv is nevertheless unanimous, the discussions stumble on the content of the law supposed to extend military aid: the Democrats want to insert an amendment therein to increase at the same time the budget for the fight against Covid in the United States, which the Republicans categorically refuse.
If Democratic Senator Leader Chuck Schumer tries to tie the two together, "
it will likely doom both
" of failure, a Republican Senate leadership has warned.
For Ukraine, this aid is nevertheless urgent: more than two months after the start of the conflict, Russia has redoubled its assaults on the south and east of the country, which suffered heavy fire from bombs on Thursday.
And, after being confined to weapons seen as defensive, Washington hardly holds back its blows, now sending artillery, helicopters and drones to the Ukrainian army, whose soldiers are trained in the use of these weapons in the United States or in third countries before returning to the front.
30 billion seized in the EU
In terms of financial sanctions, the countries of the European Union (EU) have to date seized more than 30 billion dollars in Russian assets, including nearly 7 billion in luxury goods belonging to the oligarchs (yachts, works of art , real estate and helicopters), the White House said in its statement.
The United States has meanwhile "
sanctioned and blocked ships and planes worth more than a billion, as well as freezing hundreds of millions of dollars of assets of Russian elites in American accounts
".
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And this month Spain granted a US request to seize a $90 million superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Punitive measures that should not weaken, the White House promising Thursday to continue to "
crack down
" on maneuvers "
to avoid sanctions
" by strengthening American capacities for investigations and prosecutions against oligarchs tempted to evade them .
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