Ukraine counts on Trump's help in confiscating frozen assets of the russian federation

Ukrainian officials have renewed efforts to access hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen russian assets in Europe as they hope to convince President Donald Trump, who recently took office, to overcome European opposition to the issue.

Kyiv reportedly expects that an alternative source of funding for arms and reconstruction will appeal to Trump, who is seeking to cut foreign aid.

“Ukrainian officials involved in this issue say they do not know what the new administration's position is on the confiscation issue, but some members of the previous administration supported it. Some of Ukraine's more aggressive allies in Europe, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, also support the move, but Trump's support is seen as key,” The Washington Post writes.

The Ukrainian presidential administration notes that Trump has “the power to change the position of more skeptical countries.” At the same time, it is Trump's tough approach to international politics that has given some Ukrainian officials hope for a breakthrough.

“For someone who is trying to get all of Greenland, it doesn't matter much,” one of them told WP.

Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Ukrainian officials have tried to appeal to Trump by offering to use the money to buy American weapons.

“It's a very clear quid pro quo,” he said. “And they would like Trump to accept that argument and essentially say to the Europeans: “Look, if you want me to continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, well, let's buy them with russian assets.”

At the same time, European officials note that countries such as Germany and France remain strongly opposed to asset confiscation, and “there are no signals pointing to a future breakthrough.”

What the money could be used for remains a question mark. While Zelenskyy has advocated using the funds to buy weapons, other Ukrainian officials say that most, if not all, of the money could go toward reparations and rebuilding Ukraine after the war.

Source: The Washington Post