УКРОПИ

Paris donors conference raises millions in humanitarian aid for Lebanon

Paris — A Lebanon donors’ conference in Paris on Thursday has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the war-battered country — but ending the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah that has devastated the country seems unlikely anytime soon.

The pledges rolled in at the Paris conference. Early on, both Germany and France earmarked around $100 million apiece for Lebanon. The funds will support humanitarian aid in the country, where fighting sparked by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel has killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.  

Conference host, French President Emmanuel Macron, said families need shelter, children need nourishment and schooling, the wounded need care. Solutions must be found quickly, he said, especially to avoid further population displacements, which could create new divisions in the country. 

Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati wanted more.

“What we as Lebanese expect from the international community is the following: solidarity and cease-fire,” he said. “Lebanon calls on the international community to come together and support efforts that will end the ongoing aggressions and enforce an immediate cease-fire.” 

But experts doubt there will be a swift ending to the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not attend the Paris conference. He was in the Middle East, although Washington sent a lower-level delegation. Israel and Iran were not invited.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu earlier warned that Lebanon could descend into civil war. 

But analyst Antoine Basbous told Europe 1 radio that the more likely scenario was Lebanon descending into chaos.

Former colonial power France hopes parties in Lebanon will move on electing a new president, after a two-year power gap. 

The Paris meeting additionally aimed to find ways to support the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, which includes a large number of European troops. Both the army and the peacekeeping mission say they have come under attack by Israel. 
…

Moldovan president says bribery affected election, pledges run-off vote

CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldova’s pro-European president said on Thursday that mass bribery had affected a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union. However, Maia Sandu vowed to press on with a Nov. 3 runoff vote to win a second term, instead of ordering a new election.

Sandu issued her pledge, saying it was up to the people to determine Moldova’s future, after police said pro-Russian fugitive businessman Ilan Shor had channeled $39 million to voters in September and October.

Moldovan authorities have said the campaign for last Sunday’s dual poll was overshadowed by a massive Russia-linked election-meddling scheme aimed at defeating the pro-Europe side.

“Without the buying of votes, the outcome today would have been different. We would have had a convincing victory in the presidential election and the referendum!” Sandu wrote on social media.

She said she had rejected suggestions of ordering a rerun of the ex-Soviet republic’s election as “no one has the right to deny our citizens a mass, sincere and free expression of their will.”

“Let’s go forward to the second round. We count strictly on our people as has always been the case when the fate of the country was on the line,” she said. It was up to the judiciary to “wake up” and tackle the issue of bribery, she added.

Sandu came in first in the presidential election but failed to secure 50% of votes and now faces a runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is backed by a traditionally pro-Russian party.

Sandu has singled out Russia as one of the biggest threats facing Moldova and made EU integration the cornerstone of her administration.

In the referendum, a surprisingly slim majority compared with opinion polls, 50.46% of voters, supported EU accession.  

The police have accused Shor of an attempt to bribe 130,000 voters. He denies wrongdoing, and the Kremlin has denied interfering. It questioned the vote count, in which votes from Moldovans abroad pushed the “yes” vote over 50%.

Moldova’s police chief, Viorel Cernauteanu, told a briefing on Thursday that Shor used Russia’s Promsvyazbank to transfer $24 million in October, in addition to $15 million channeled in September, to pay off voters.  

During the campaign, Shor openly offered to pay Moldovans to persuade others to vote “no” in the referendum and to support a specific candidate, who he did not name publicly. He launched a bot on the Telegram messaging platform for this means.  

Cernauteanu said the police had blocked 97 chatbots before the vote explaining to people how to use the Promsvyazbank banking app and get the money.  

On Monday, Sandu called the campaign “an unfair fight” and claimed victory in the referendum designed to enshrine Moldova’s EU path in the constitution. She said there was “clear evidence” that criminal groups backed by “foreign forces hostile to our national interests” had aimed to buy off 300,000 votes.

Moscow has denounced the vote as not free. On Wednesday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States and European Union had meddled in the campaign.
…

Venezuelan opposition figures win EU’s top rights Sakharov prize

Strasbourg, France — The EU parliament awarded the bloc’s top rights Sakharov prize on Thursday to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

They won the prestigious award for their fight for democracy under President Nicolas Maduro’s iron-fisted rule.

Machado, 57, played a key role in Venezuela’s presidential election in July. Although the authorities proclaimed Maduro the winner, the opposition believes its candidate Gonzalez Urrutia won.

Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain in September.

European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola said the two figures represented “all Venezuelans inside and outside the country fighting to restore freedom and democracy”, as she announced the award in the parliament in Strasbourg, France.

“Edmundo and Maria have continued to fight for the fair, free and peaceful transition of power and have fearlessly upheld those values that millions of Venezuelans and this parliament hold so dear: justice, democracy and the rule of law,” Metsola added.

“This parliament stands with the people of Venezuela and with Maria and Edmundo in their struggle for the democratic future of their country,” Metsola said.

“We are confident that Venezuela and democracy, will ultimately prevail,” she added.

There will be an award ceremony in Strasbourg in December. The winner receives a $54,000 prize.

Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia were named for the award by the center-right European People’s Party, the largest political grouping in the EU parliament.

The two other finalists were jailed Azerbaijani activist Gubad Ibadoghlu — backed by the Greens — and Israeli and Palestinian organizations working together for peace, proposed by the Socialists and Democrats group.

Metsola paid tribute to the finalists, saying they “all are bravely standing up for human rights and for freedom of thought in the face of unimaginable challenges”.

She said that the health of Ibadoghlu — under house arrest — was “currently deteriorating significantly” and called on “Azerbaijani authorities to drop all charges against Doctor Ibadoghlu and lift his travel ban”.

Far-right lawmakers had nominated US tech billionaire Elon Musk as a champion of “free speech”, but their eyebrow-raising choice was not accepted.

Named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, previous recipients of the award include South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

For Machado, it is her second prize in as many months as she won the top European rights prize awarded by the Council of Europe, which is not an EU institution.
…

BRICS meeting highlights geopolitical aspirations, rivalries with West

NEW DELHI — While U.S. officials express the view that the BRICS grouping meeting in the Russian city of Kazan is not evolving into a geopolitical rival, analysts say BRICS members are working on issues that could further decouple them from Western influences.

Among the topics discussed between members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are ways to establish an alternative payment system that would not be dependent on the U.S. dollar, a BRICS digital currency and an alternative to Western financial institutions like the International Monetary fund. 

China, Russia and Iran – countries that face severe trade restrictions imposed by the United States – have been particularly keen about advancing BRICS’ stated goals and circumventing what they regard as illegal sanctions.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated at the BRICS meeting that he was equally interested. “We welcome efforts to increase financial integration among BRICS countries. Trade in local currencies and smooth cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation,” Modi said.

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyachaslav Volodin, writing ahead of the two-day meeting on the cloud-based messaging app Telegram, said the BRICS’ priorities reflect the divide between the West and the South. “The time of the hegemony of Washington and Brussels is passing. Countries choose the path of equal dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation in the interests of people, and not to please the US and its minions,” he said.

U.S. officials say they are not concerned.

“We’re not looking at BRICS evolving into some kind of geopolitical rival. That’s not how we look at it … to the U.S. or anyone else,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday at a press briefing.

Meanwhile, India’s Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting, signaling a thaw in relations between the two sometimes-adversarial nations that some analysts suggest could have geopolitical implications.

Two days before the BRICS meeting, Indian and Chinese officials agreed to resolve the vexing issue of their militaries patrolling along the India-China border. The goal is to ensure that both sides pull back troops from advanced positions in disputed areas and return to the situation that existed before the last border conflict in 2020.

“We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last 4 years along the border. It should be our priority to ensure there is peace and stability along our border,” Modi told Xi during the initial minutes of the meeting, which was telecast live. Xi responded saying that the rapprochement was “in the fundamental interests of both countries.”

Analysts are trying to gauge what prompted India to seek rapprochement with Beijing when it is closely tied to U.S.-led arrangements meant to counter China’s influence. 

India plays a key role in the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy and the Washington-led Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) involving Japan, India, Australia and the United States. China views the QUAD, which regularly holds exercises among the militaries of the four member countries, as a group bent on hurting its interests. 

“Being a part of the QUAD is not helping India, which needs support in countering China’s military challenge in the Himalayan Mountain region. Besides, the U.S. is developing a relationship with Pakistan, which is against India’s interest,” P. Stobdan, former Indian diplomat and author, told VOA. 

The Chinese media quoted Lin Minwang, a professor at the Institute of Strategic Studies and International Security in Fudan University, as saying that India is seeking reconciliation with China because the United States has not supported its efforts to develop its manufacturing sector. 

“India’s policy that aims at decoupling from China has failed to attract meaningful support from the US-led West to help ‘Made in India’ and the country’s modernization and industrialization,” Lin said. “This proves that India can’t profit from being hostile to or decoupling from China, and it is even making it difficult for India to realize its own development,” he added. 

Some experts believe the United States would not be surprised at the turn of events.  

“The U.S. knew all along that India and China would connect at some point. There are strong political and economic reasons for them to engage with each other,” said Manoranjan Mohanty, a China expert based in New Delhi.
…

New evidence China, Russia and Iran targeting US elections

WASHINGTON — There is new evidence China, Iran and Russia are aggressively expanding their efforts to influence American voters to potentially sway the result of the upcoming U.S. elections.

Two threat intelligence reports Wednesday, one from software giant Microsoft and the other from the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, detail growing activity by cyber actors linked to each country — all aiming to impact U.S. public perceptions with less than two weeks before voters go to the polls.

The biggest change, according to Microsoft, comes from Chinese-linked actors known to researchers as Spamouflage or Taizi Flood.

“Chinese influence operations have recently taken a new turn, shifting focus to several down-ballot candidates and members of Congress,” Microsoft said, noting that starting in September, China has targeted at least four prominent Republican lawmakers, all of whom are known critics of the government in Beijing.

Most recently, the Chinese-linked accounts targeted Texas Republican Michael McCaul, accusing the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of “abusing power for personal gain.” 

Late last month, other Spamouflage began going after Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, Microsoft said. And earlier this month, the same effort began promoting Blackburn’s opponent in the November 5 election.

Other targets include Alabama Republican Representative Barry Moore, who was subjected to content criticizing his support for Israel, and the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Marco Rubio, who was accused of corruption.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected the allegations in the Microsoft report.

“The presidential elections are the United States’ domestic affairs,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told VOA Wednesday, echoing previous Chinese denials. 

“Such allegations are full of malicious speculations against China, which China firmly opposes,” he added.

U.S. lawmakers, however, said they were not surprised by the uptick in malign activity.

“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] cannot stand anyone who supports and gives a voice to those they oppress; their response is to sanction and attack,” McCaul said in a statement to VOA. 

“I consider it a badge of honor when the CCP — a leading abuser of human rights, censor of free speech, and oppressor of its own people — takes issue with my work,” he said. 

Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for the Chinese influence efforts to “be taken very seriously.”

“China is becoming increasingly more aggressive,” Rubio said in a statement to VOA. “China’s goal is to shape American opinion on critical issues and target specific candidates, especially those they view as anti-China.”

Growing threats

The reports from Microsoft and Recorded Future warn Beijing is not alone.

Specifically, the reports caution the Russian-linked cyber actors, known to researchers as Storm-1679 or Operation Overload, have increased their pace of operations over the past month and a half and are showing signs that more influence operations are on the way.

“Operation Overload is very likely to ramp up its activities,” said the Recorded Future report.

Recorded Future said many of the Russian efforts, of late, have sought to provoke anger toward the LGBTQ+ community “using disinformation to perpetuate discriminatory beliefs around transgender individuals, perceived behavioral issues, gender transition and reassignment surgeries, and pharmaceutical treatments.”

Other influence operations, the report said, are making use of AI-generated voiceovers to emulate the style of U.S. broadcast journalists.

Microsoft said the Russian cyber actors also have found ways to reach additional U.S. voters by shifting much of the content from the Telegram social media platform to X.

“Storm-1679 videos posted to X received higher levels of engagement,” Microsoft said.

Microsoft researchers also warned there are signs Iran is also ramping up its election interference efforts.

The Microsoft report says that in one instance, less than two weeks ago, “an online persona operated by Iran began falsely posing as an American and called on Americans to boycott the elections due to both candidates’ support for Israel’s military operations.”

Russia and Iran, like China, have repeatedly denied any involvement in efforts to meddle with the U.S. election.

But the new findings from Microsoft and Recorded Future align with assessments from U.S. intelligence officials.

“Foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests,” according to a declassified assessment issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

U.S. intelligence officials have previously said Russia has been working to boost the chances of former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump, while Iran has been working to hurt Trump’s reelection bid and instead buoy the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

And while there is little evidence to suggest China has sought to affect the U.S. presidential race, intelligence officials have said Beijing has been focusing its efforts on congressional and state and local candidates perceived to be promoting policies detrimental to Beijing’s interests.
…

China backs Russia-proposed BRICS payment system

WASHINGTON — Gathered Wednesday at a summit in the Russian city of Kazan, the members of BRICS adopted a joint declaration calling for the creation of an independent payment system based on their national currencies, a move in response to what they regard as illegal sanctions that are damaging the global economy.

BRICS member countries, which account for about 35% of the global economy, issued the Kazan Declaration, which calls for the “elimination” of “unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions that are contrary to international law.”

The BRICS membership includes the initial five — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — and expanded when several countries joined this year, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates.

Expressing concerns over “unilateral coercive” sanctions that have “disruptive effects” on the world economy, the BRICS members agreed to examine the “establishment of an independent cross-border settlement and depository infrastructure, BRICS Clear.”

In supporting “inclusive cross-border payment instruments,” they encouraged the “use of local currencies in financial transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners.”

Edward Fishman, senior research scholar at Columbia University and author of the forthcoming book “Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare,” said, “The BRICS have finally found a unifying mission: circumventing American financial dominance.”

“For BRICS members under U.S. sanctions, namely Russia and Iran, this mission is already a top national priority,” he said. “Others such as China see it as a handy way to insulate themselves from potential sanctions in the future.”

Fishman said the United States should take BRICS initiatives “seriously and move to further solidify the dollar’s advantages” as they “could well bear fruit over the next decade,” although “it’s unlikely that any of these initiatives will make a dent in the dollar’s global role in the near future.”

Circumventing US dollar

In his speech at the summit Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said “the reform of the international financial architecture” is “pressing,” and he called for “the connectivity” of financial infrastructure among BRICS members and the expansion of the New Development Bank, or NDB. 

Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was established by the initial five BRICS members in 2015. It serves as an alternative financial institution to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. 

Tom Keatinge, the founding director of the Center for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute, said China would be inclined to join the new financial system that Russia is advocating.

He said Beijing’s reasons are twofold: “to influence its design to ensure it can benefit” and “to add to its desire to provide counterbalance to the historically unipolar financial system dominated by the United States.”

Keatinge added, however, that the new infrastructure would not be able to easily replicate “the stability, liquidity and convertibility of the U.S. dollar” that a number of other existing bilateral and multilateral payment systems experience.

VOA asked the Chinese Embassy in Washington whether and why Beijing is interested in joining and using the proposed BRICS financial system but did not get a reply.

Citing unnamed experts, China’s state-run Global Times on October 17 said an alternative payment system “may help reduce excessive reliance on the U.S. dollar.”

Sanctions evasion

BRICS’ efforts to increase the use of local currencies are seen as a bid to challenge the global financial system dominated by the U.S. dollar, which accounts for 90% of all currency trading and more than half of international payments. 

At the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “The dollar is being used as a weapon.” He also said the increased use of BRICS national currencies for transactions will “minimize geopolitical risks.”

During a meeting with Putin at the summit on Tuesday, NDB President Dilma Rousseff said the bank was committed to financing the countries of the Global South in their national currencies.

Russian state development corporation and investment company VER.RF signed agreements with China and South Africa to extend credit lines in national currencies, Russian news agency TASS reported on Wednesday.

BRICS Clear, the international payment and deposit platform to ensure increased circulation of national currencies, was proposed by Russia ahead of the summit.

The Russian Financial Ministry, central bank and consulting firm Yakov and Partners earlier in October issued a document proposing BRICS Clear as a platform that would utilize national depository systems “independent of third-party influence.”

Also ahead of the summit, a new cross-border payment system called BRICS Pay was introduced at the BRICS Business Forum held in Moscow on October 17 and 18.

A statement released Tuesday by the American Action Forum, citing an analysis by Jacob Jensen, a data analyst at the think tank, said there are concerns that BRICS Pay would allow participating countries to “circumvent USD as a payment intermediary by replacing it with blockchain technology and an alternative to the SWIFT financial payment system.”

Several Russian banks were banned from the SWIFT messaging system that facilitates global financial transfers shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskovsaid on Wednesday that the BRICS is not trying to create a system as an alternative to SWIFT, according to Russian TASS. 

Despite BRICS’ efforts, no country using an alternative system like BRICS Pay will be immune from sanctions, as such a payment system can be subject to sanctions, said David Asher, a Hudson Institute senior fellow who advised the U.S. government over several years on sanctions evasion schemes.

Ultimately, Asher said, national and digital currencies will end up being swapped into U.S. dollars at the Clearing House Automated Transfer System based in Hong Kong, which he believes should be sanctioned.
…

Commonwealth nations to discuss slavery reparations, climate change

APIA, SAMOA — The leaders of the Commonwealth group of nations will meet at a welcome banquet in Samoa in the South Pacific on Thursday, with climate change and reparations for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade on the agenda of summit discussions.

Leaders and officials from 56 countries with roots in Britain’s empire, as well as Britain’s King Charles, are in the small island nation and attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which began Monday. The countries’ foreign ministers also began a day of discussions on Thursday.

More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small states, many of which are low-lying island nations at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the rate worldwide, and its population is “uniquely exposed” to the impact of rising sea levels.

“Climate change is an existential threat. It is the number one national security threat. It is the number one economic threat to the peoples of the Pacific and to many members of the Commonwealth,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference after a meeting with counterparts.

A number of African countries, including Zambia, warned the meeting about the escalating impacts of climate change, including the effects on food security, she added.

On Thursday, Charles will be shown the impact of rising sea levels that are forcing people to move inland, a Samoan chief said.

Island leaders are expected to issue a declaration on ocean protection at the summit, with climate change being a central topic of discussion.

Reparations push

Also on the agenda is a push for Britain to pay reparations for transatlantic slavery, a long-standing issue that has recently been gaining momentum worldwide, particularly those part of the Caribbean Community and more recently the African Union.

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said on Monday the UK will not bring the issue of reparations for historical transatlantic slavery to the table at the summit, but is open to engage with leaders who want to discuss it.

CARICOM has set up a commission to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as the UK, France and Portugal.

Those opposed to paying reparations say countries shouldn’t be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in favor say the legacy of slavery has resulted in persistent and vast racial inequalities today.

A CARICOM source familiar with the matter told Reuters CHOGM presents an “important opportunity” for dialogue on reparations and the region will be tabling the issue there.

“It is a priority for many of the Commonwealth’s member countries and whenever those affected by atrocities ask to talk, there should always be a willingness to sit down and listen,” said Kingsley Abbott, director of the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, who is attending the summit.

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations under inhumane conditions in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while others profited from their labor.
…

Humanitarian aid workers face ‘increasingly difficult’ conditions  

The president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has announced the establishment of the Red Family Fund to honor humanitarian aid workers who have died in the line of duty.

Kate Forbes told the organization’s general assembly in Geneva that aid workers find themselves working under “increasingly difficult” conditions that include not only an escalation in conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere but also a decrease in observance of international law.

“Global conflicts have escalated, endangering civilians and our volunteers, making it even more difficult to deliver humanitarian aid,” Forbes said.

So far this year, 30 of the group’s 16 million humanitarian aid workers worldwide have died in the line of duty, she said.

“The surge in violence against humanitarian workers underscores a decline in the adherence to international humanitarian law and poses a direct threat to our mission,” the IFRC president said. She described each loss as a deep wound but said the deaths would not weaken the organization’s “resolve to directly address these crises.”

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the gathering that humanitarian workers find themselves doing their jobs across the globe amid a world shaped by “armed conflicts and political turmoil.”

The Red Family Fund, according to the IFRC’s website, honors volunteers and staff from the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies “who die in the line of duty and provides a mechanism for one-time financial assistance to the families they leave behind.”

“This is a tangible step that demonstrates our commitment to honor those who care for others,” Forbes said. 

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
…

US says there is evidence of North Korean troops in Russia

The United States said there is evidence that North Korean troops are in Russia, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had learned that two North Korean military units were training in Russia for potential combat in Ukraine. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb reports.
…

G7 allies move ahead with $50 billion loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian funds

Washington — Ukraine will receive $50 billion in loans, backed by frozen Russian assets, from Group of Seven allies, the White House said Wednesday. Distribution of the money will begin by year’s end, according to American officials who said the United States is providing $20 billion of the total.

Leaders of the wealthy democracies agreed earlier this year to engineer the mammoth loan to help Ukraine in its fight for survival after Russia’s invasion. Interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets would be used as collateral.

“To be clear, nothing like this has ever been done before,” said Daleep Singh, the deputy national security adviser on international economics.

“Never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country and then harnessed the value of those assets to fund the defense of the aggrieved party all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity.”

At a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Ukraine’s finance minister, Sergii Marchenko, planned to put in writing assurances that the U.S. loan will be paid for by the windfall proceeds of the immobilized Russian sovereign assets, not by American taxpayer dollars.

“Russia is paying for this support,” Yellen said at a news conference Monday where she said the loan package was close to being finalized.

Singh said the Biden administration intends to divide the U.S. share of $20 billion between aiding Ukraine’s economy and military. It will require congressional action to send military aid, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that weapons and equipment being promised now can take weeks or months to get to Ukraine.

The additional $30 billion will come from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, among others.

The idea of using Russia’s frozen assets to help Ukraine faced resistance at first from European officials who cited legal and financial stability concerns.

The move gained momentum after more than a year of negotiations between finance officials and after President Joe Biden in April signed legislation that let the government seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian state assets in the U.S.

The G7 announced in June that most of the loan would be backed by profits being earned on roughly $260 billion in immobilized Russian assets. The vast majority of that money is held in EU nations. 

The U.S. and its allies immediately froze whatever Russian central bank assets they had access to when Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The timing of the loan’s disbursement has been called into question, coming about two weeks before the presidential election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. The candidates have taken opposing views on the threat from Russia.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dismissed suggestions that military aid to Ukraine approved by the Biden administration now could be negated by any new team in power.

“I think we’re pretty sure that these materials will continue to flow,” Austin said, adding that he is confident it all will be delivered “on the timeline that we’ve outlined.”

The World Bank’s latest damage assessment of Ukraine, released in February, estimates that costs for reconstruction and recovery of the nation stand at $486 billion over the next 10 years.
…