Tokyo says it did not refuse to use $30 billion in frozen Russian reserves to back a loan for Ukraine, contrary to Politico\u2019s reporting<\/p>\n
The Japanese Finance Ministry has denied a report that it rejected an EU plan to tap frozen Russian central bank assets to back a loan for Ukraine.
\nFinance Minister Satsuki Katayama reportedly \u201cruled out\u201d the bloc\u2019s proposal to use roughly $30 billion in Russian funds immobilized in Japan for a so-called \u201creparations loan\u201d to Kiev, according to Politico.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s completely false,\u201d Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Atsushi Mimura told reporters on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
\n\u201cMinister Katayama never made such a comment,\u201d Mimura reportedly said. \u201cShe told the meeting that Japan is preparing to make specific steps\u201d to support Ukraine, he added, according to Reuters.
\nLast week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged EU members to choose between a major borrowing push or the long-discussed \u2018reparations loan\u2019 backed by frozen Russian funds, to finance Ukraine to a tune of \u20ac90 billion ($104 billion) over 2026-2027.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: France won\u2019t let EU seize chunk of frozen Russian funds \u2013 FT \u00a0<\/p>\n
The bulk of Moscow\u2019s immobilized reserves, around \u20ac185 billion, is held in Belgian clearing house Euroclear. Belgium has so far pushed back against EU pressure to use the assets to fund Ukraine, warning of legal risks.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
EU risks \u2018deep split\u2019 over push to steal frozen Russian assets \u2013 Economist<\/p>\n
However, given that Ukraine\u2019s budget hole is projected to reach $48 billion next year, EU officials are reportedly pressing to tap the funds.
\nMoscow has long condemned any attempt to use the assets as theft and warned of retaliation.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has admitted that the money could allow Kiev\u2019s Western sponsors to temporarily sustain Ukraine\u2019s flagging battlefield efforts.
\n\u201cThis money would, in principle, be enough for them to expend Ukrainians like bullets for a couple more years,\u201d he said on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tokyo says it did not refuse to use $30 billion in frozen Russian reserves to back a loan for Ukraine, contrary to Politico\u2019s reporting The Japanese Finance Ministry has denied…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t