U.S. Congress approves bill on transfer of Russia's frozen assets to Ukraine

A respective decision was made during the hearing of the bill H.R.4175.

A member of the House of Representatives, Michael McCaul, introduced the document for consideration. The bill requires U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to transfer confiscated Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine.

The bill authorizes "the Secretary of State to provide additional assistance to Ukraine using assets confiscated from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and other sovereign assets of the Russian Federation, and for other purposes."

The bill stipulates that not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of the most pressing needs of Ukraine for reconstruction, rebuilding, security assistance, and humanitarian aid.

According to McCaul, the bill also makes the return of Russian assets to Russia impossible until it pays compensation to Ukraine.

"We need a plan for victory as soon as possible, one that ensures that the U.S. is not shouldering this burden alone. So that is why I introduced […] this bipartisan and bicameral legislation that demands that Biden's administration transfer frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine. It's time that Russia starts paying for the war that it started," he said during the hearing.

Now the document must be considered in the U.S. Congress.

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and USAID Administrator Samantha Power earlier sent a letter to Congress urging approval of the Biden Administration's request to provide $11.8 billion in direct budget support to Ukraine as part of President Biden's national security supplemental package.