Yellen Calls for Frozen Russian Central Bank Funds to Be Given to Ukraine

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday called for the US and its allies to hand $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank funds to Ukraine, a step that would significantly escalate the Western economic war against Russia.

“It is necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these immobilized assets to support Ukraine’s continued resistance and long-term reconstruction,” Yellen said in Brazil, where Group of 20 finance ministers are meeting this week, according to The Associated Press.

The comments from Yellen mark her most supportive statement of the outright theft of Russian funds to finance the war in Ukraine. The call comes as the Biden administration is still struggling to get Congress to pass the $60 billion it’s seeking to fuel the conflict.