U.S. Senate committee approves legislation to confiscate Russian assets in favor of Ukraine

That's according to Reuters, Ukrinform reports.

On January 24, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 1 in favor of the unprecedented "Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act."

If it were to pass the full Senate and House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Joe Biden, as expected, the act would pave the way for Washington's first-ever seizure of central bank assets from a country with which it is not at war.

Read also: Bulgarian MPs table bill to immobilize Russian assets

Senator Ben Cardin, the Democratic foreign relations committee chairman, was optimistic about the bill becoming law, noting that it has broad support, from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House, as well as from Biden's administration.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a similar bill, also with overwhelming bipartisan support. Cardin said he expected the Democratic-majority Senate and Republican-majority House would be able to resolve the differences between the two bills.

The EU, United States, Japan and Canada froze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Only about $5 billion to $6 billion are in the United States, with most held in Europe, and most of those in Belgium's Euroclear central securities depositary.