Blinken announces transfer of confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on September 6, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to underscore unwavering US support for Ukraine’s defence of its sovereign territory and the people of Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing aggression. 

Secretary Blinken also discussed additional US assistance and encouraged continued progress on Ukraine’s reform agenda, including combatting corruption and safeguarding the autonomy and integrity of Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities and courts, according to the press service of the US State Department.

In this vein, the US has announced it would provide $5.4 million in forfeited oligarch assets to support veteran reintegration and rehabilitation.

According to him, the money will be used to support Ukrainian veterans. This is how much - $5.4 million- was previously confiscated from Konstantin Malofeev in the USA in favour of Ukraine. The transfer of these funds to Kyiv has been repeatedly announced earlier.

“Beyond Ukraine’s security needs, for the first time, we are transferring to Ukraine assets seized from sanctioned Russian oligarchs, which will now be used to support Ukrainian military veterans.  Those who have enabled Putin’s war of aggression should pay for it. 

We’re continuing lifesaving humanitarian assistance; emergency shelter for those whose homes Russia has destroyed; medical support and health care for survivors of relentless Russian missile attacks and shelling, including as we saw again last night and today; food, clean drinking water; generators for communities. 

Today we’re committing an additional $206 million toward that effort, much of which is dedicated to helping the more than 6 million Ukrainians who are displaced by Russia’s war,” he said during a press conference with Dmytro Kuleba.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has provided $43.2 billion in security assistance, $2.9 billion in humanitarian assistance, and $20.5 billion in budget support through World Bank mechanisms.