The US supports issuing $50B in bonds backed by frozen Russian assets.

The US has proposed to the G7 countries the creation of a special-purpose vehicle to issue at least $50B in bonds backed by the profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets and use the proceeds to support Ukraine, reported Bloomberg. The proposal would pool the $280B of Russian central bank assets that have been immobilized by G-7 countries and the EU in a special-purpose vehicle. The profits would back the so-called freedom bonds. More than two-thirds of Russia’s frozen assets are blocked in the EU, where they generate about $3.6B in net profit a year. Proceeds from the prospective bond offering would be nearly equal to the $60B in US aid that is still stuck in Congress. Western allies are struggling with funding for Kyiv at a critical moment in the war, as Ukrainian troops face artillery shortages and Russia has made advances in the east. EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday and will discuss using the profits from…