Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is open to allowing the use of Russian assets frozen in the United States to help rebuild parts of Ukraine devastated by the war, once a formal peace treaty is signed between the two countries.
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join a proposed “Board of Peace,” Putin also said Russia could allocate $1 billion from its frozen US-based assets to support the initiative, which is aimed at overseeing a ceasefire and reconstruction plan for Gaza.
The Russian leader said the proposal had already been discussed with Washington and would be taken up further during talks in Moscow on Thursday with Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“Even before resolving the issue of participation in the Peace Council and its work, considering Russia’s special relationship with the Palestinian people, we believe it would be possible to direct one billion dollars to the Peace Council from Russian assets frozen under the previous US administration,” Putin said during a meeting of Russia’s Security Council.
He added that the remaining frozen funds held in the US could be earmarked for rebuilding Ukrainian regions damaged by the conflict after a peace agreement is concluded.
The proposal is interpreted from various quarters as a diplomatic gesture that intends to foster better relations with Washington and thus avoid new economic sanctions by the use of money that is currently inaccessible to the Kremlin. Nevertheless, experts point out that only around $4–5 billion of Russia’s frozen assets are in the United States, which is very little compared to the whole amount needed for rebuilding Ukraine and also is a very tiny part of the almost $300 billion in Russian assets that have been frozen all over the world, with the majority of that in Europe.
Russia has been active in trying to stop US sanctions not just on itself but also on its trading partners, still, the country has not revealed any major changes in its war goals nearly four years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump, for his part, has alternately criticised both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for stalled peace efforts, while warning of tariffs and sanctions on Russia’s trading partners. Major differences remain over Trump’s proposed peace plan, particularly Moscow’s demand that Ukraine cede territory it does not fully control.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not stopped, and the energy losses and the associated hardship keep piling up as the war gets closer to the five-year mark. The amount for the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine estimated for February 2025 is about $524 billion spread over ten years plus the amount that is being increased by the continuous attacks on electric and heating systems.
In addition, Putin said that he would discuss the potential $1 billion donation to the Board of Peace with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, whom he is going to meet on Thursday. Trump has invited a wide range of world leaders to be part of the board, which is one of the main aspects of his 20-point proposal for a permanent peace in Gaza, and he pointed out that a minimum donation of $1 billion would be necessary for not being expelled from the membership.
