TOKYO, July 17Japan is close to releasing $3.3 billion (5.2 trillion yen) in aid to Ukraine from proceeds from Russia's frozen assets, the agency reported Kyodo citing diplomatic sources.
This will amount to about 6% of the total $50 billion that the G7 countries have agreed to provide as a loan to Ukraine. It will be repaid from interest on Russian assets frozen in the West. It is expected that 20 billion of this amount will be allocated by the United States and the European Union, the remaining 10 billion will have to be divided among themselves by Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. 
It is expected that the issue of using proceeds from frozen Russian assets will be discussed at a meeting of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the G7 countries in Rio de Janeiro on the sidelines of a meeting within the G20. The money allocated by Japan will be used to provide non-military assistance, the material clarifies.
In Japan, Russian financial assets worth $33 billion are frozen (equivalent to approximately 4 trillion yen as of March 2022, 5.2 trillion yen as of July 2024). After the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries froze almost half of the Russian Federation's foreign exchange reserves, amounting to approximately 300 billion euros. More than 200 billion euros are in the EU, mainly in the accounts of the Belgian Euroclear — one of the world's largest settlement and clearing systems.
Previously, the G7 agreed to provide Ukraine with a loan of $50 billion, which will be repaid from interest on Russian assets frozen in the West.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, noting that the EU is targeting not just private funds, but also Russian state assets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia will be responsible in the event of confiscation of frozen Russian assets in the West. According to him, the Russian Federation also has the opportunity not to return the funds that Western countries kept in Russia.