G7 and EU close to implementing 'Ukra loan' agreement...Repayment with Russia's frozen asset earnings

Seven major countries, the G7, the European Union and the EU will provide Ukraine with loans of up to 45 billion euros, or about 67 trillion won, as collateral for the proceeds of Russia's frozen assets as early as the end of this year.

The European Parliament has completed all the preparations needed to implement the loans, finalizing a plan to provide Ukraine with up to 35 billion euros and about 52 trillion won in new loans as collateral for proceeds from Russia's frozen assets on Tuesday local time.

EU final loan amount will be adjusted for the size of other G7 national contributions within a range of 35 billion euros.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said the U.S. is almost ready to provide $20 billion, about 28 trillion won, Bloomberg reported.

Yellen said she planned to allow Ukraine to take out loans from the end of this year.

The U.K. and Canada, which are members of the G7, have unveiled plans to share 4 trillion won and 5 trillion won, respectively.

Japan is expected to support a similar level.

The announcement of the final plan to implement the agreement is expected to take place at the G7 Finance Ministers' Meeting in Washington on the 25th.

This comes four months after the G7 and the EU agreed to help Ukraine with loans in June.

Under the agreement, participating countries lend to Ukraine on their own budgets and use the proceeds from Russia's frozen assets as repayments.

If the proceeds are exhausted or unavailable, they must be repaid with the budget of the participating countries.

The intention is to secure Ukrainian funds in advance in preparation for the possibility of former President Donald Trump, who is skeptical of supporting Ukraine, retaking power in the U.S. presidential election next month.

However, in the process of working-level consultations immediately after the agreement, the United States has raised concerns about the burden of repayment and guarantees and has demanded safeguards from the EU.

In the case of the EU, where about two-thirds of Russia's assets frozen by the West are tied, extending sanctions on Russia's asset freeze currently requires unanimous approval from its 27 member states every six months.

If Hungary, which opposes Ukraine's aid and is friendly to Russia, puts the brakes on the freeze, it risks suspending the measure.

The EU has proposed extending the sanctions renewal period from six months to 36 months to address U.S. concerns, but Hungary is holding out, saying the decision should be postponed until after the U.S. presidential election.

Unanimous approval is also required to amend regulations related to sanctions renewal.

In this regard, Yellen said on the same day that she was confident that Russia's assets would continue to freeze even if EU sanctions were renewed every six months.

Russia immediately protested.

Russia's deputy ambassador to the EU Kirill Rogovinov criticized Russia's Tas news agency on the same day, saying, "The Brussels (EU) is challenging the international financial system by using illegal sanctions on foreign state-owned assets as a foreign policy tool," adding, "It is committing global economic crimes."