The EU and the US are close to an agreement to share equitably contributions to a $50 billion loan to Ukraine.
According to Politico, Brussels and Washington will each provide $20 billion to Ukraine under a framework agreement to be discussed at a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday.
The UK, Japan and Canada will cover the balance of the loan.
Reaching a deal would pave the way for the Western alliance to extend the loan to Ukraine before a self-imposed deadline of the end of the year.
Defense and humanitarian aid
Governments have previously stated that the loan could be used for a variety of purposes, including defense or humanitarian needs.
G7 leaders agreed in June to grant the $50 billion loan, which will be repaid with funds from the investment of more than 250 billion euros in frozen Russian assets in the West.
Most of the assets are held by Euroclear, a securities depository based in Brussels.
But disagreements among allies over how to divide the loan have slowed progress.
The problem is that the United States is expected to involve Congress if the loan is seen as a risk to American taxpayers’ money, raising fears that the process could drag on beyond the deadline, officials with knowledge of the talks said.
To avoid this risk, Washington seeks to take EU guarantees that Russian assets will remain frozen until the loan is fully repaid.
The bloc has proposed enacting into law that assets would be frozen until Russia repays future post-war reparations to Ukraine, two EU diplomats told Political.
The European Commission has refrained from proposing its own text to translate the G7 deal into EU law due to continued uncertainty over its exact contribution to the loan. But there is growing optimism in Brussels that this could happen as early as Wednesday.