Russian President Vladimir Putin is "on the ropes, there's no question" after ambassadors from European Union countries earlier this week agreed to use windfall profits from Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU for Ukraine's defense, said U.S.-born British financier and political activist Bill Browder.
"I think it would be devastating for him," Browder said Thursday during an appearance on Frontline's "Times Radio."
"At the end of the day, war is all about resources, who has the resources to fight, and what kind of weapons can you buy with those resources. And Putin always had the upper hand in that because Russia is a rich country; it's an oil country. They continue to sell their oil in spite of the sanctions, and Ukraine is a poor country.
"They don't have any significant natural resources. And all the money was coming from the West, and Putin knew that we were all grumbling and there was problems at the EU and there was problems in Congress and so on."
"If this money gets freed up, it's a game changer. ... Putin values money more than human life, and you can see Putin starting to do nuclear exercises as a way to try to dissuade us from doing this. ... This is so important to Putin, he's ready to threaten nuclear war. ... His reaction shows you how serious and how meaningful this is," he added.
The Group of Seven countries froze around $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets soon after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the EU and other G7 countries have debated how and whether to use the funds to help Ukraine.
"The money will serve to support #Ukraine's recovery and military defence in the context of the Russian aggression," said Belgium, which holds the EU presidency until the end of June, in a post on X.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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