Ukraine reportedly aims to convince the US to support seizing frozen Russian assets, proposing to use the funds for purchasing American weapons.
Following Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency, Ukraine has renewed its efforts to confiscate frozen Russian assets, according to a Friday report in the Washington Post citing anonymous sources. Kiev believes Trump’s business expertise and influence within the EU could persuade opponents of the seizure.
Since the February 2022 escalation of the conflict, Western nations froze approximately $300 billion in Russian central bank assets held abroad—a move Russia considers theft.
While these assets already partially fund a $50 billion G7 loan to Ukraine, most Western countries haven’t seized the assets. Opponents, including Belgium, Germany, and France, fear legal repercussions and damage to the Western banking system.
The Washington Post reports that Ukrainian officials believe Trump could sway hesitant nations if he views the asset seizure as advantageous to the US.
“We firmly believe that it’s President Trump who can be a change maker,” Irina Mudra, deputy head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s office, told the news outlet.
“[Trump] has the power to change the stance of more-skeptical countries… they know he’s not joking, that his are not just hollow words. That’s exactly why we need his help convincing our partners that transferring Russian assets is a necessary tool to finish this war,” she added.
Ukraine plans to present the asset seizure as an alternative funding source for weapons and reconstruction. Zelensky, in a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman, stated that he had “spoken to Trump” about using the frozen assets to purchase US arms.
“I told him, take the $300 billion of frozen Russian assets… and we will buy all the weapons from the US… It will be very good for your industry,” Zelensky said, framing this as a key security guarantee for future peace talks with Moscow.
Analysts suggest this proposal might appeal to Trump, given his ‘America First’ approach and calls to reduce foreign aid.
“That’s a very clear quid pro quo. And they would love for Trump to adopt that argument and basically say to the Europeans, ‘Look, if you want me to continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, well, let’s buy them with Russian assets,’” Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics told the news outlet.
The Biden administration previously expressed cautious support, but Trump’s position remains unclear. Some EU nations reportedly prefer to maintain the frozen assets as leverage in future peace negotiations with Moscow.
Russia consistently condemns the asset freeze. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned in December of legal action against any attempt to redirect these funds to Ukraine, referring to them as “stolen” assets. Russia also threatened to retaliate by seizing frozen Western assets in Russia.