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Defense OneOCT 25 2024
UK to Loan Ukraine £2B from Frozen Russian Assets
Above: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves speaks with Ukrainian soldiers and staff at the Stanford Training Area on October 20, 2024 near Thetford, England. Image copyright: Leon Neal/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Britain will loan Ukraine an additional £2.26B ($2.93B) in funding for its war-effort against Russia, it was announced on Tuesday. Ukraine, however, will not have to repay the loan — with repayment coming from interest on Russian assets seized by European banks earlier in the war.
The funds will make up Britain's contribution to a wider $50B loan — which will also be re-payed using interest on Russian assets — agreed by G7 nations in June, and expected to be unveiled later this week.
G7 countries initially wanted to use all of the $300B of Russian assets held by Western banks, but this met opposition from the IMF who said such a move could undermine confidence in the global financial system and may face legal challenges from Moscow.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The purpose of this agreement is to give Ukraine the means and resources to continue fending off Russia's aggression, as well as to help it rebuild its country. Russia must be made to pay for the damage it has inflicted on Ukraine.
Pro-Russia narrative
This is banditry and theft — pure and simple. The proposal to use revenue from Russia's frozen assets to fund Ukraine in the conflict is yet another example of the EU degrading its own standards and violating its commitments to international law.
Metaculus Prediction
Public Figures
Go Deeper
Establishment split
CRITICAL
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