Biden suggests that G7 countries draw up plans for the use of frozen russian assets by June

U.S. President Joe Biden wants the Group of Seven countries to make progress on plans to use frozen russian assets to support Ukraine before the G7 leaders' summit in June in Italy.

Biden would like the frozen assets to be used to finance Ukraine's budgetary needs and then to rebuild the country, the source told Bloomberg. The US president does not believe that the use of russian frozen funds replaces the need for assistance to Ukraine, another source said.

As noted, representatives of the G7 countries are discussing options for using the $280 billion in frozen assets of the russian Central Bank.

The allies agree that the frozen funds should remain inaccessible to russia unless it promises to help rebuild Ukraine, but disagree on how legal it would be to confiscate them completely.

One problem is that the vast majority of the funds are in Europe and any agreement would have to be supported by all G7 countries. Another problem is to find an option that all allies will recognize as legally sound and that will help reduce the risks to the euro.

Source: Bloomberg