Hungarian Minister of Finance Mihaly Varga has announced that Budapest is temporarily blocking the European Union's decision to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan from the profits of frozen Russian assets held by the bloc at least until after the United States presidential election.
The loan, first agreed upon by the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) during their recent summit in June in Italy, was designed to support Ukraine through profits generated by the billions of dollars worth of Russian assets held by the EU that were frozen in February 2022.
The G7 plan proposed using the interest accumulated over time to cover the loan, which would be repaid to donor countries as profits continue to accrue, rather than seizing the assets directly.
This $50 billion loan plan was crafted to support Ukraine without directly accessing or seizing the $300 billion in Russian assets frozen by Western nations, mostly held in European banks. Instead, the plan relies on the estimated $3.2 billion annual profits generated from these assets.
However, Hungary decided to block the plan due to the conditions of the U.S. for contributing to the loan.
According to EU officials, Washington has stipulated that, for the U.S. to contribute approximately $20 billion to help support Ukraine and fund the loan, the EU must extend its sanctions renewal timeline from six months to three years. If accepted, this change would halve the EU's own contribution to the loan, while the remaining $10 billion would come from other G7 members, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan.
Moreover, Varga stated that Europe should delay any sanctions modifications until after the 2024 U.S. presidential election because the two leading candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris hold differing views on Ukraine.
"We believe that this issue, the prolongation of the Russian sanctions, should be decided after the U.S. elections. We have to see in which direction the future U.S. administration is going with this issue," the minister said. (Related: Hungary hops off "NATO Train," calls West's escalation of war in Ukraine "hopeless.")
Trump wants to stop war in Ukraine; Harris wants it to continue
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has become a point of contention between Harris and Trump.
Harris, who has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine's sovereignty, is set to continue providing military aid and strengthening alliances between North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations, much like what the current administration of President Joe Biden has been doing. Harris even criticized Trump during the presidential debate in September, claiming that if Trump were still in office, Russian President Vladimir Putin "would be sitting in Kyiv right now."
"Understand why the European allies and our NATO allies are so thankful that you are no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known," Harris said to Trump. "And what we have done to preserve the ability of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky and the Ukrainians to fight for their independence."
She also told Trump that Putin is "a dictator who would eat you for lunch."
On the other hand, Trump claimed that if he had been in office in late 2021 and early 2022, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine to begin with. Thus, if reelected, he believes he could resolve the conflict quickly.
"I want the war to stop," Trump said. "What I'll do is I'll speak to one, I'll speak to the other, I'll get them together."
Learn more about the situation in Ukraine at UkraineWitness.com.
Watch this episode of the "Ron Paul Liberty Report" as co-hosts former Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams discuss Hungary's call for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
This video is from the channel What Is Happening on Brighteon.com.
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