Yellen Says US Mapping Location of Russian Assets to Keep Them Frozen

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2023) The United States is working with its allies to pinpoint the exact locations of the immobilized assets of Russia's central bank to ensure that they stay frozen, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a congressional testimony on Tuesday.

"We're working first more accurately to map exactly where these assets are and we're examining a number of options, including some (where) we may be able to take (with) under existing authorities" to keep them immobilized, Yellen told the US House Financial Services Committee.

Yellen said from the outset of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the United States has taken decisive steps to immobilize Russian central bank reserves in the amount of $300 billion.

The United States was committed to the Group of Seven (G7) countries in ensuring that the immobilized assets remained frozen "until Russia pays for the damage it has caused" arising from its war on Ukraine, Yellen said.

"And we're working with allies and partners, also in the G7 and the so-called repo task force on this issue," Yellen added.

The European Union said last month that some $215 billion of frozen Russian assets were in the bloc, with approximately $8 billion being held in Switzerland alone, according to the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs.