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DONATE TODAY! or call 204.788.8458 A16 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I CANADA / WORLD SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2025 Officials believe alternative financing source will entice Trump Ukraine renews appeal to seize Russia’s frozen billions K YIV — Ukrainian officials have renewed their push to gain access to hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets in hopes of convincing newly arrived U.S. Presi- dent Donald Trump to overcome oppos- ition in Europe to the move. The idea is that the use of an alterna- tive source of funding to buy Ukraine weapons and pay for reconstruction will appeal to Trump as he seeks to cut foreign aid. The proposal has gained renewed urgency amid increased un- certainty over U.S. military support for the country. Kyiv has long sought the outright confiscation of nearly US$300 billion in Russian central bank assets — held mostly in Europe and frozen after Rus- sia’s 2022 invasion — and Trump’s re- turn, with his focus on ending the con- flict, has revived conversation. The move to confiscate, however, has little chances without broader Euro- pean support, and officials say coun- tries such as Germany and France are still categorically opposed, arguing it would undermine confidence in their financial systems. European officials said they don’t rule out the tide shifting if securing new funding for Ukraine runs into difficulties or if the future of the assets could be a factor into any future negotiations to end the conflict with Russia. The Biden administration sent tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine in mil- itary assistance but future U.S. sup- port is in doubt. A U.S. defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situa- tion, said for now future military aid is frozen as part of the larger review of U.S. assistance. Much of this renewed buzz over assets is being generated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials as part of an effort to bring pressure on Moscow even as Kyiv’s forces continue to cede territory along the front line. Ukrainian officials who deal with the issue say that they do not know where the new administration stands on the issue of confiscation, but some in the previous administration did support it. Some of Ukraine’s more hawkish al- lies in Europe, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, also back the move, but the support of Trump him- self is seen as key. Trump has the “power to change the stance of more skeptical countries” more than “any other leader in the world — they know he’s not joking, that it’s not just hollow words,” said Iryna Mudra, Ukraine’s deputy justice minister, who is part of Kyiv’s effort to get the assets. “That’s exactly why we need his help convincing our partners that transfer- ring Russian assets is a necessary tool to finish this war,” she said, adding that “we firmly believe that it’s President Trump who can be a changemaker.” Kyiv officials said they were encour- aged by comments last week by Keith Kellogg, Trump’s newly appointed spe- cial envoy to Russia and Ukraine, in which he told Fox News that the propos- al — as laid out in a Washington Post opinion piece co-authored by retired general Jack Keane — was “one piece of the puzzle that needs to be discussed.” Trump’s hard-nosed approach to international politics has also given some Ukrainian officials hope for a breakthrough: “For someone who is trying to get all of Greenland, this is not a big deal,” said a Ukrainian official speaking on condition of anonymity be- cause of the sensitivity of the issue. Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Ukrainian officials were trying to appeal to Trump, whom they see as a “transactional guy,” by suggesting the money be used to buy U.S. weapons. “That’s a very clear quid pro-quo,” he said. “And they would love for Trump to adopt that argument and basically say to the Europeans, ‘Look if you want me to continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, well let’s buy them with Rus- sian assets.’” “What’s really behind this is that people are seeing a political opportun- ity with Trump,” he added. Earlier this month, in an interview with the American conservative pod- caster Lex Fridman, Zelenskyy said he “addressed Trump” about confiscating the money, which Ukraine could use in part to buy weapons from the U.S. It was not clear from the interview if Zelenskyy said this to Trump directly, or whether this was conveyed through other individuals. “We don’t need gifts from the United States,” Zelenskyy said. “It will be very good for your industry, for the United States. We will put money there. Rus- sian money, not Ukrainian, not Euro- pean.” Most of the money is in the form of bonds, 80 per cent of which have reached maturity, of which some US$200 billion is held by Euroclear, a Belgian-based financial services com- pany, Ukrainian officials said. Belgium, Germany and France re- main among the strongest opponents of the idea, European officials say. They worry that confiscating the assets could set a precedent of seizing the funds of governments they oppose that would invite legal challenges or deter sovereign wealth funds and central banks from investing. “I don’t see any signals pointing to an impending breakthrough,” an EU diplo- mat said, speaking on condition of ano- nymity to share internal deliberations. Moscow has described plans to use its assets as “stealing our money” and pledged legal consequences. Instead of touching the assets them- selves, Western countries have already started using proceeds from the fro- zen assets to buy weapons for Ukraine and back a US$50 billion loan from the Group of Seven nations to Kyiv. Euro- pean officials say that loan and other funding mechanisms were secured in anticipation of Trump’s return and should put Kyiv on a solid financial footing for now. What the money could be used for is still under question. Although Zelen- skyy has advocated for using the funds to purchase weapons, other Ukrainian officials say that the bulk, if not all, could go to reparations and rebuilding Ukraine after the war ends. Estimates for the cost of reconstruction range from US$500 billion to US$1 trillion. But even if the money would be spent rebuilding the country, Zelenskyy and others are pushing for the assets to be seized as soon as possible, both to send a signal to the Kremlin and block any possibility that they could be returned to Russia later. Andriy Pyshnyy, head of Ukraine’s National Bank, sees the discussions around confiscation moving in the dir- ection of other debates with Western partners during the war, such as those surrounding the F-16 fighter jets: first categorical refusal, and then with time, gradual agreement. The Russian invasion, the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, requires a response of sim- ilar scale, he said. “If we are talking about an unprecedented war, then we are talking about unprecedented vol- umes (of money).” “Someone must pay,” Pyshnyy added. “The one who started this terrible war, the one who continues and seeks this pain, must pay. It is Russia.” — The Washington Post DAVID L. STERN, ELLEN FRANCIS AND MISSY RYAN BILL O’LEARY / THE WASHINGTON POST FILES Then U.S. president Joe Biden arrives at a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, D.C. The Biden administration sent tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine in military assistance but future U.S. support is in doubt. Judge grants temporary reprieve to hundreds of B.C. ostriches facing avian flu cull A FEDERAL judge has granted a temporary re- prieve to about 400 ostriches that were facing a deadline on Saturday for them to be killed at a B.C. farm hit by an outbreak of avian flu. Justice Michael Battista ruled Friday to stay the cull order imposed by the Canadian Food In- spection Agency while the farm seeks a judicial review of the case. Battista said in a written deci- sion that going ahead with Saturday’s order before the matter could be further examined “would ex- pose the applicant to irreparable harm.” A lawyer for Universal Ostrich Farms Inc. argued in a Friday hearing in Toronto Federal Court the os- triches should be exempt from the order because their genetics are the subject of an antibody re- search study, making them rare and valuable. Michael Carter says his clients — farm co- owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski — had “happy tears” when they learned the news after watching the proceedings virtually from Edge- wood, about 200 kilometres east of Kelowna. “Next we will be proceeding with the hearing to look at the CFIA’s decision to have the birds culled and whether it was reasonable,” Carter said in a phone call after the decision. The CFIA issued the order after avian flu was detected in two dead ostriches Dec. 30 and its law- yer argued Friday that public health concerns out- weighed the farm’s position. The federal agency’s lawyer, Paul Saunders, told the hearing that it required farms to cull en- tire herds because there was a risk that the virus could incubate, mutate and create new variants, even in healthy animals. “There is a risk of human transmission. There is a risk of illness and death,” Saunders said. The farm initially applied for a CFIA exemption for animals with rare genetics, but the federal agency denied their application Jan. 10. In his ruling, Battista said allowing the cull to proceed would mean irreparable harm in the form of “the closure of (a) 25-year-old business and the loss of the applicant’s decades-long efforts in culti- vating a unique herd of ostriches.” The disposal or- der is stayed until a decision in the judicial review. Battista denied a request to amend the quaran- tine notice on the farm. The farm’s ostriches have been the subject of a research project in collaboration with Dr. Yasu- hiro Tsukamoto, president of Kyoto Prefectural University in Japan. The scientist, also known as Dr. Ostrich, has been extracting COVID-19 antibodies from os- trich eggs in B.C., building on his decades of re- search on the antibodies in ostrich egg yolk that can block infectious diseases. Tsukamoto has said his research could be applied to avian flu. Court documents show 69 of the 450 ostriches on the farm died between mid-December and Jan. 15 after showing symptoms of avian influenza. — The Canadian Press HANNAH ALBERGA ;