Congress is finally poised to help Ukraine in a material way at no cost to US taxpayers by using frozen Russian funds here in the United States. The Trump Administration has been unwilling to do so under existing authority. More than two years ago Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law the bipartisan Reconstruction and Economic Prosperity Opportunity for Ukrainians Act (REPO Act). Among other things, this law authorizes the president at his discretion to “seize, confiscate, transfer, or vest” already immobilized Russian sovereign assets languishing in the US financial system for transfer to Ukraine. That was more than two years after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine a second time in violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. President Biden never fully used this new authority, but he did work with G7 and other nations to create a $20 billion loan from the United States to be repaid over time by the interest on those frozen assets.
Continuing Russian aggression and war crimes against civilians must no longer go unanswered or unpunished.
Almost one year ago Representatives Zach Nunn of Iowa and Josh Gotthemier of New Jersey introduced their bipartisan Preventing the Escalation of Armed Conflict in Europe Act of 2025 (PEACE Act). Less than two weeks after it was introduced, the House Financial Services Committee under the leadership of Chairman French Hill of Arkansas passed this Russian sanctions bill with a critically important amendment targeting the immobilized Russian assets. This new, super-charged Russian sanctions legislation was approved last July by the overwhelming vote of 53-1.
