A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced legislation on Friday aimed at accelerating the transfer of frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine for defense and reconstruction efforts.
The REPO Implementation Act of 2025, sponsored by Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Tom Kean (R-NJ), and Steve Cohen (D-TN), proposes repurposing a “sizable subset” of the assets on a “regular, set, timetable.”
The bill is designed to build on the foundation of the previous REPO (Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians) law by establishing a clear mechanism to move the funds to Kyiv.
This House measure is a parallel effort to the Senate version of the bill (S. 2918) introduced by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jim Risch (R-ID) in September and passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee early this week.
Quarterly aid mechanism and investment
Crucially, the legislation mandates that the Secretary of the Treasury must invest the funds deposited in the Ukraine Support Fund in interest-bearing US obligations, with the interest and proceeds also credited to the account.
The overall frozen assets held by the US and its allies are estimated to total around $300 billion.
Furthermore, the act sets a regular spending schedule. It specifies that the Secretary of State may obligate and expend an amount of not less than $250 million from the Fund for assistance to Ukraine at least every 90 days, while funds remain available.
Bipartisan calls for accountability
“War criminal Putin chose to invade Ukraine,” said in a statement Rep. Wilson, Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. He added that the act would “ensure that Putin’s own money is used to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.”
Rep. Kaptur, a Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Caucus, stated that the measure would “up the pressure on Putin’s Russia” and help Ukraine “take its long-sought place among the free democratic nations in Europe.”
The legislation also seeks to encourage international alignment. Rep. Kean noted that the act “establishes a clear framework to provide Ukraine with consistent investments from the Uand encourages our G7 allies to do the same.”
Rep. Cohen summarized the goal as one of “basic justice.” “This bill ensures that this blood money will now be put to good use supporting the Ukrainians who Putin has attacked,” he said.
Speaking to Kyiv Post, a Republican congressional aide knowledgeable about the bill, emphasized that the consistent, mandated transfer schedule is viewed as a crucial step, shifting the cost of Ukraine’s recovery from Western taxpayers to the Russian state and establishing a powerful, though controversial, new precedent in international law regarding sovereign immunity.