Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen Following a Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo of Belgium

As Prepared for Delivery Prime Minister De Croo, I was pleased to welcome you to the Treasury Department today. We met to discuss important policy priorities during Belgium’s ongoing six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union. Chief among them is our work to provide support to Ukraine, to counter Russia’s war of aggression, and to unlock the value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets to benefit Ukraine. During the Belgian presidency, EU member states have not only secured a multi-year 50-billion-euro Ukraine Facility to help meet Ukraine’s budget financing needs. They have also established a windfall stream for Ukraine from income earned on Russian sovereign assets immobilized in European central securities depositories.