WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden Thursday is expected to ask Congress for new powers to seize and repurpose the assets of Russian oligarchs to aid Ukrainian forces in the fight against Russia.
NewsNation will livestream Biden’s remarks in the player above.
In remarks at the White House, Biden will formally ask for billions of dollars in additional U.S. spending earmarked for supplying Ukraine’s military, bolstering its economy and supporting the millions of refugees who fled Russia’s invasion two months ago. Biden will also ask Congress to allow the federal government use the proceeds from selling the seized assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs to help the people of Ukraine.
Biden is asking lawmakers to make it a criminal offense for a person to “knowingly or intentionally possess proceeds directly obtained from corrupt dealings with the Russian government,” double the statute of limitations for foreign money laundering offenses to 10 years, and expand the definition of “racketeering” under U.S. law to include efforts to evade sanctions.
The remarks follow more threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warns of “lightning-fast” retaliation against any Western countries that intervene on Ukraine’s behalf. The fighting picked up pace after Russia suddenly cut off natural gas to two NATO nations, in what was seen as a bid to punish and divide the West over its support for Ukraine ahead of the potentially pivotal battle in the eastern industrial region of the Donbas.
Ukraine has urged its allies to send even more military equipment so it can continue its fight.
Biden’s new ask comes as he announced plans last week to send an additional $800 million in military aid to help Ukraine. The military assistance package includes much-needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden had previously approved for Ukraine.
Biden said that the $13.6 billion approved last month by Congress for military and humanitarian assistance was “almost exhausted.”
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