US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen voiced support for a European Union plan to impose a windfall tax on profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets, calling it a “sensible” way to help finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“This seems like a reasonable proposal,” Yellen said in an interview with Bloomberg reporters and editors in New York on Wednesday, adding that the US is discussing the idea with the EU. “It’s a different thing than seizing the assets.”
Opening the way to tap profits from Russian funds for Ukraine’s benefit may help boost support for continued aid to Kyiv as the war drags on. The Biden administration is pushing Congress to approve an additional $24 billion in assistance but facing growing skepticism from some Republicans.Yellen and other US officials have weighed endorsing the proposal to help unlock the debate over it in Europe, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“We’re still working to build support,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who is a cosponsor of the measure introduced by Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. Giving the president authorization to seize the assets would be a “push” to move the administration closer to taking the action, he said.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Tuesday that the move to seize the assets outright was “compelling on moral grounds, compelling on economic grounds, compelling on political grounds and compelling on effectiveness grounds.”