Russian Analysts Find U.S. Used Frozen Assets for Its Own Needs

The Nov. 8 resolution of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo to transfer frozen Russian assets to Kiev, will not likely be realized, suggest analysts interviewed for the Nov. 9 issue of Izvestia. The reason they give is that the U.S. may tap most of the funds itself, with no more than 10% of the funds ending up in Ukraine! Bogdan Bezpalko, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, told the newspaper that the money would not be transferred to Ukraine, but instead would be directed toward paying down Ukraine’s debt to the United States. There is also the possibility of using it to pay for supplies of military equipment, but the money would still very likely be spent in the United States, he believes.