Today, G7 Finance Ministers announced a final agreement on the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loan Mechanism, which leverages frozen Russian Central Bank assets to ensure Ukraine's victory and reconstruction from Russia's illegal invasion.
Following this announcement, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, issued the following statement:
"At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Canada and our allies took the unprecedented step of immobilizing close to C$381 billion (US$280 billion) in Russian sovereign assets, depleting Putin's war chest. Within the G7, all countries have agreed that Russian sovereign assets will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage it continues to inflict on Ukraine.
"Today, the G7 reached a final agreement to support Ukraine in its brave fight with an additional C$68 billion (US$50 billion), backed by future interest that will be accrued on frozen Russian assets. Canada was the first country to advocate for using these assets to support Ukraine, and we are proud to be providing the largest per capita contribution: C$5 billion (US$3.7 billion).
"Canada's firm position has always been that Russia, the aggressor, must pay for the destruction it has caused. It cannot be the sole duty of democracies and their citizens or of the brave people of Ukraine to pay for Putin's war of aggression. Today's announcement is historic because it accomplishes this; it guarantees frozen Russian Central Bank assets will be used to support the people of Ukraine."
