Congress is currently debating the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, a.k.a. the REPO Act, which would allow President Biden, working with European allies, to seize $60 billion of Russian currency reserves frozen in the West and use them to aid Ukraine. The U.S. and allies froze the assets in February 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into Ukraine.
A Biden administration official said of the REPO Act: “Generally speaking, we are supportive of having domestic legislative authorities that will give us flexibility as we continue to discuss with partners and allies on how best to cease Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and ensure Russia pays for the damage it has caused.”
U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), an outspoken opponent of the U.S. sending aid to Ukraine who has argued that a Russian victory is inevitable, criticized the REPO Act as “a very bad piece of legislation.”
Vance said if passed, the REPO Act “will make it impossible for Donald Trump to engage in diplomacy in his second term” and “will take away a very important tool from our next president to be able to bring peace.”
The REPO Act will make it impossible for Donald Trump to engage in diplomacy in Europe during his second term. We need to kill this bill or at the very least make it sunset before the next Trump administration. pic.twitter.com/TegoP6HJjP
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) April 16, 2024
Note: In Vance’s op-ed essay in The New York Times last week, he criticized Biden and the White House for not negotiating with Putin and claimed, “The Biden administration has no viable plan for the Ukrainians to win this war.”
Vance warned that if Republicans aren’t able to kill the REPO Act, “We are giving the Democrats a massive weapon that they can use against the Trump administration.” He added, “The Democrats love this. I’ve heard people brag that this will control the Trump administration” if Trump is elected in November.
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