The US Senate proposes new terms for providing aid to Ukraine: what is at stake

This is stated in the bill, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported on September 19.

The amendments were proposed by Democratic U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, and Republicans Jim Risch, Chuck Grassey, and Lindsey Graham. The bill is based on the Ukraine Restoration of Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) Act, which was passed in April 2024.

Senator Shaheen noted that Russia's illegal war in Ukraine has caused "staggering destruction and loss of life, and Putin must be held accountable."

Repurposing Russia's frozen sovereign assets is a necessary step to provide Ukraine with the resources to defend itself and rebuild its communities. Importantly, this approach allows us to continue supporting Ukraine at no additional cost to American taxpayers.

Whitehouse added that Russia's frozen sovereign assets are "the most appropriate target for providing Ukraine with the support it needs for its defense and recovery."

REPO 2.0 will encourage the Trump administration and our G7 allies to begin confiscating frozen Russian assets and distributing them to Ukraine on a set schedule to increase economic pressure on Putin.

Senator Blumenthal noted that having a schedule for the seizure of Russian assets would give Ukraine "confidence in this support and continue to hold the financial sponsors of the Putin regime accountable."

The REPO Implementation Act of 2025 provides:

• transfer of all frozen Russian sovereign assets worth about $5 billion under United States jurisdiction to an interest-bearing account;

• encouraging the US President to transfer at least $250 million from this account to Ukraine every 90 days;

• Encouraging the Secretary of State, together with the Secretary of the Treasury, to conduct a diplomatic campaign to persuade US allies to begin redistributing at least 5 percent (approximately $15 billion) of Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine every 90 days.

The senators recalled that in October last year, the United States and its G7 allies announced a collective loan of $50 billion to Ukraine, which will be repaid with funds received from part of Russia's frozen sovereign assets stored in Belgium.

The United States contributed $20 billion of a $50 billion loan from Russia's revenues, which was disbursed in December at no cost to taxpayers.