With just days left before handing over the keys to the US government, the Biden administration is making a last-ditch effort to seize hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets as future negotiating leverage for Ukraine, according to two senior administration officials, Report informs via CNN.
Top Biden aides have been working to convince European partners to support moving some $300 billion of Russian money into a new escrow account that would be released only as part of a peace deal. The money belongs to the Russian Central Bank and was initially frozen three years ago after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Most of that money is still being held in European banks, though a fraction remains in banks based in the US.
Seizing the assets would be meant to send a simple message to Moscow, one senior administration official told CNN: “If you want your money back, you’re going to have to come talk.”
Senior Biden officials have consulted closely on the idea with President-elect Donald Trump’s national security team, including Sen. Marco Rubio, his secretary of state designee, and Rep. Mike Waltz, tapped for national security adviser.