Ukraine hopes for Trump's support in its efforts to secure frozen Russian assets for purchasing weapons.

After Donald Trump became the President of the United States, Ukraine intensified its efforts to gain access to frozen Russian assets to finance the supply of weapons.

Source. This was reported by The Washington Post citing sources among officials.

In Kyiv, there are hopes to secure Trump's support to persuade Europe to agree to confiscation.

The Ukrainian side believes that this alternative source of funding will attract the attention of the Trump administration, considering his desire to reduce the volume of foreign aid.

However, the resistance from the European Union makes the realization of this initiative unlikely.

Countries like Germany and France are categorically against the confiscation of assets, fearing it would undermine trust in their financial systems, WP notes.

At the same time, some European officials do not rule out that their position might change if difficulties arise in finding new sources of funding for Ukraine or if Russian assets become a bargaining chip in negotiations to end the war.

The publication emphasizes that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and his closest aides are particularly active on this issue as part of efforts to pressure Moscow. Ukrainian representatives acknowledge that they do not have a precise understanding of the new U.S. administration's stance on this matter, but they remind that some members of the Biden team supported such a measure.

Some European officials, including EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, also back this step, but Trump's position remains a key factor, WP notes.

"Trump has the ability to change the minds of the more skeptical countries," said Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration. According to her, Ukraine needs Trump’s help in convincing partners that transferring Russian assets is a crucial tool for ending the war.

"We firmly believe that President Trump can be the one to bring about change," she added.

Some Ukrainian officials link their hopes for success to Trump's "tough approach" in international politics.

"For a person who claims to want to buy all of Greenland, this shouldn’t be a problem," noted one Ukrainian representative on condition of anonymity.

Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, explained that Ukrainian officials have tried to engage Trump by proposing to use frozen Russian assets to purchase American weapons. It’s a direct exchange: a service for a service. Ukrainians want Trump to use this argument against the Europeans:

"If you want me to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine, let’s do it with Russian money," he explained.

Previously, Volodymyr Zelensky admitted in an interview with Lex Fridman that he had approached Trump regarding the confiscation of Russian assets that Ukraine could direct towards purchasing weapons from the U.S.

"We are not asking for gifts from the U.S. This is beneficial for the American industry. We will invest money. Russian money, not Ukrainian or European," Zelensky stated.

After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, EU and G7 countries froze about 300 billion euros of Russia's foreign reserves, of which over 200 billion are located in the European Union.

So far, only the interest profits from these funds have been used to assist Kyiv. Bloomberg estimates the profit from frozen Russian assets at 3–5 billion euros per year.

Background. Recall that Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg stated that the U.S. is considering the possibility of purchasing weapons for Ukraine using frozen Russian assets. The idea of directing Russian assets towards the needs of Ukrainian defense remains "on the table" for Trump, he said.