Bipartisan lawmakers introduce resolution to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine
Reese Gorman
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Reps. Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN) filed a bipartisan resolution to seize frozen Russian assets and use that money instead of U.S. taxpayer dollars to aid Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts from Russia’s invasion of their country.
The United States has sent nearly $135 billion in taxpayer funding to Ukraine as they continue to combat the Russian invasion of their country. And with some members of Congress adamant that they do not want to send more taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, Nunn and Cohen, who are both staunch supporters of Ukraine and want to assist the country, filed this resolution as a way to help the country and possibly get more members on board with sending aid.
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Nunn, a 20-year Air Force veteran and former counterintelligence official who led operations in Russia, said that currently, there is about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets from the Russian central bank, and the U.S. can seize those funds and then send them to Ukraine.
“Now, we have a history of doing this with terrorists,” Nunn said. “After 9/11, we took money from terrorist elements that were in international accounts, we froze those, and we used them to prosecute the war on terror. I think it’s very important to move in the same way against Russian oligarchy money and Russian assets that have been used to perpetrate and pillage the people of Ukraine.”
In August, President Joe Biden requested an additional $24 billion from Congress to send to Ukraine.
While the U.S. can continue sending its own money to assist Ukraine, Nunn feels strongly that is the wrong path forward. But, if the United States uses seized assets from Russia, it sends a message to other countries, such as China and Iran, that if they are the aggressor, the U.S. will hold them accountable, Nunn said.
Right now, that $300 billion is spread across Europe, America, and Japan, and it’s going to take one country to be the leader in using Russia’s own funds against them, he said.
“The United States gets to stand up and say we are going to be a leader on this, to be able to seize these assets and then return that money back to reconstruction programs in Ukraine,” Nunn said. “I think an aspect of this is that when this conflict is over, we’re going to need to help rebuild the shattered country, and by we, I mean the United States leading the way, with Europe and Japan, but using the money seized from Russian oligarchs.”
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The resolution is titled the “Protect Taxpayers and Defeat Russia Act.” Russia first invaded Ukraine in February of 2021, and since then, more than 70,000 Ukrainians have died and over 120,000 have been injured.
“Russia must pay for the damage it has caused in its unprovoked war against Ukraine,” Cohen said in a statement. “We cannot allow Russia’s actions to go unpunished and, while we must help Ukraine rebuild in any way we can, the cost of rebuilding should fall primarily on the aggressor. Rebuilding efforts will require international cooperation and coordination, and it is wise to have these conversations sooner rather than later.”