Ukraine's economic crisis is getting worse, and the EU and Kyiv expect that without external assistance, Ukraine will declare bankruptcy by March 1 next year, because the cash in the treasury is no longer enough to support spending for the next three months! And Western countries' aid to Ukraine has also been sharply reduced, and even divergent, resulting in a dilemma for Ukraine's much-needed aid funds.
Recently, the U.S. Congress vetoed Biden**'s $61.4 billion aid package for Ukraine, depriving Ukraine of important support. The EU also failed to pass a resolution on 50 billion euros (about $54.4 billion) in aid to Ukraine, because Hungary's opposition made the aid package totaling $115.8 billion come to naught!
In this situation, Zelensky ** felt powerless, and the Ukrainian military decided to adjust its military strategy and temporarily abandon the idea of regaining the lost lands from Russia, and the main goal at the moment is to eliminate the Russian army as much as possible on the premise of minimizing its own losses, and even defending the front line is not a top priority.
To put it simply, it is to fight if you win, and run if you can't win. Perhaps it was Zelensky's bravery that moved Western countries, and while the plan to aid Ukraine was shelved, the G7, led by the United States, intends to use Russia's sovereign assets to continue to fund Ukraine. This is really a loss, use Russian money, to fight Russia!
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Western countries have not only vigorously assisted Ukraine, but also imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russia, and Russia's sovereign assets have been frozen by Western countries about $300 billion. In November, the Ukrainian military made a request to the US Department of Defense, hoping to get $350 billion-$400 billion and 17 million artillery shells to help Ukraine get out of the predicament.
If the G7 really gave the $300 billion to Ukraine, then Ukraine should be able to survive for a while. At the moment, the United States has already begun operations and is engaged in an active dialogue with other members of the G7 in order to use Russia's sovereign assets. The U.S. goal is to resolve all key issues in the coming weeks in preparation for the G7 summit next February.
The U.S. side revealed that it is in active dialogue with other members of the G7 on the use of Russia's sovereign assets, and said that countries may discuss the issue at the G7 summit next February, on the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The U.S. added that the goal in the coming weeks is to address all the key issues so that the G7 can act in unison.
However, most of the G7 members are hesitant, mainly fearing that doing so will allow foreign investors holding assets in dollars and euros to flee, because the most important thing for investors is a safe and stable investment environment. But the United States believes that this is a countermeasure in accordance with international law, and that doing so can force Putin to stop his aggression against Ukraine.
However, the European Union (which has frozen more than 200 billion euros) is more inclined to use the huge profits generated by its freeze than to directly use Russia's frozen sovereign assets. In other words, the EU prefers to use the interest generated (more than 3 billion euros), while the US wants to use the 300 billion dollars directly.
At present, only Britain is firmly supportive of the American approach, which is also expected, and Britain has completely become the most loyal little brother of the United States. Especially in the Russian-Ukrainian war, the United Kingdom has also been very active, creating many firsts for the United States to continue to detect Putin's bottom line, such as the first to assist Ukraine with Western main battle tanks, long-range cruise missiles, depleted uranium bombs, etc.
The Challenger-2 tanks provided by the UK to Ukraine with canopy armor.
Although countries such as Germany, France and Belgium in Europe are opposed to the US approach. However, British Foreign Minister David Cameron has already said that Britain will act with the United States if the other members of the G7 cannot be convinced. To put it simply, whether other countries want it or not, the United States and Britain have decided!
And the G7 is a grasshopper on a rope, and now that the big brother of the United States has spoken, other countries have no reason to disagree and dare not oppose it. More importantly, judging by the character of the United States, even if other countries are unwilling, the United States will use means to make these objections disappear!
At the same time, in November, Japan also said that the G7 would not return Russia's frozen assets unless Russia agreed to pay reparations for the war in Ukraine! You know, Zelensky demanded that Russia pay more than $1 trillion in reparations. That is, even if Russia agrees to compensate, the frozen funds will not be enough to compensate Ukraine, and it is clear that the G7 does not want to return it!
However, this windfall may not go into Zelensky's pocket, and the United States is likely to be the ultimate winner of this $300 billion! In December, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that 90% of U.S. military aid to Ukraine was used to produce U.S. equipment to aid Ukraine, which benefited the U.S. economy. And if this 300 billion US dollars is finally allocated to Ukraine, most of it will become an order for the US ** factory!
In April this year, in order to deal with such risks, Putin has signed a decree stipulating that if Russia's assets are seized or restricted abroad, Russia will implement temporary management of assets of unfriendly countries in Russia, and the temporary management can be terminated according to Russia's decision.
To put it simply, once the West really uses the funds frozen by Russia, Russia will also take corresponding measures to counteract, and then the two sides may start a more brutal financial war! And Russia also has a banker who is called the "number one disruptor" by the West - the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina!
The "Putin's banker", who was included in the list of the most influential people in Europe by the United States, successfully avoided the fatal blow of Western sanctions to the Russian economy and allowed Russia's military operation against Ukraine to continue.
The Russian side said that Nabiullina was on the list because the decision of the Russian central bank kept the Russian economy from being stagnant due to Western sanctions, and the attempts of the United States and other Western countries to freeze the Russian economy did not succeed. And according to the latest news, Russia's GDP is expected to grow by 3 this year5%, far exceeding expectations, it can be said that the Western sanctions against Russia are quite a failure, and this banker has a lot to do!
If the United States and other Western countries want to touch Russia's frozen assets, Russia, a banker, will definitely take corresponding measures to make the West also taste the bitterness!