Biden and France’s Macron reach agreement on using Russian assets to help Ukraine

Discussions about Ukraine came as the US president wrapped up a five-day trip to France

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US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:11am, 10 Jun 2024Updated: 4:07pm, 10 Jun 2024

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he had reached an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron on the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

Asked if the two men had discussed the issue and whether they had come up with an agreement, Biden replied: “Yes and yes”.

The Group of Seven nations (G7) and the European Union are considering how to use profits generated by Russian assets immobilised in the West to provide Ukraine with a large upfront loan now and secure Kyiv’s financing for 2025.

Around €260 billion (US$280.9 billion) of Russian central bank funds are frozen worldwide, most of it in the EU. The funds generate €2.5 billion to €3.5 billion a year in profit, which the EU says is not contractually owed to Russia and therefore represents a windfall.

US President Joe Biden at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France on Sunday. Photo: AP

The idea, championed by the US, is to use this profit as a steady revenue stream to service a large loan of US$50 billion that could be raised on the market. Russia says any diversion of the profits from its frozen funds would amount to theft.

Tapping profits from Russian assets has drawn concerns from some countries, but a US Treasury official said on Tuesday that the United States and its G7 partners were making progress.