The United Kingdom has decided to do something that could lock them into a major war with Russia. The rulers think it is a great idea to arm Ukraine using Russia’s money.
The UK will provide Ukraine with a £2.26 billion ($2.94 billion) loan for its war effort against Russia based on cash generated by frozen Russian assets, according to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves. Since they used the term “loan” would the UK require Ukraine to pay it back? What happens if Russia takes Ukraine down and that country is wiped off the map?
The loan will be repaid using profits from an estimated €300 billion in Russian assets frozen in Western financial institutions since the onset of the conflict in 2022, which Moscow has denounced as “theft.” Nearly €197 billion ($214 billion) of these funds are immobilized by Belgian clearinghouse Euroclear. The assets generated €3.4 billion in interest in the first half of 2024, as reported by the financial institution in July. -RT
This doesn’t seem like very sound decision-making for avoiding a global war. “This new funding is in Britain’s national interest because the frontline of our defense – the defense of our democracy and shared values – is in the Ukrainian trenches,” Reeves stated on Monday defending the action. “What we’re not doing is confiscating these assets to fund this loan,” Reeves added. “We’re utilizing the extraordinary profits from the assets, and that’s how we’re confident we can do this within the appropriate legal frameworks.”
The announcement comes just ahead of a gathering of G7 finance ministers, to be held during meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington this week.
Russia views this as a “theft” of its sovereign assets that undermines global trust in the entire Western financial system.
Ukraine Is Losing: “Elite” Troops Surrender To Russia In Kursk Region
This seems like a very bad idea, but Russia has yet to retaliate against the West for its constant crossing of Moscow’s stated “red lines.” Those lines have blurred to be fuzzy pink at best. Failure to follow through by Russia has for certain, kept this war from expanding more rapidly. If the former Soviet Union ever changes its mind, however, the West could be in for a global war.
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