Speaking on Oct. 22 in advance of the IMF annual fall meetings in Washington, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, based on interest flows from more than $300 billion in assets seized from Russia, was “99% complete” and could be finally set prior to Nov. 5 Election Day in the United States—meaning, that Yellen was confident various European NATO members that oppose NATO’s war against Russia, would not block the European $30 billion share. The U.S. Treasury will be guaranteeing that share, and directly lending the remaining $20 billion, leaving U.S. taxpayers on the hook for the entire amount.
But here are the two paragraphs of wonderful “certainty” taken from the New York Times account: “Ms. Yellen said that American taxpayers would not bear any of those costs because the loan would be repaid using interest from Russia’s central bank reserves, which will remain immobilized in Europe until the war ends. She added that even if a truce was reached, the loans would still be repaid using Russian funds.” (Thus, the United States places another major roadblock in the way of any “truce” Ukraine and Russia might agree to.)
