President Joe Biden is pushing a legislative package that would allow the US government to sell yachts and other assets seized from Russian oligarchs and use the proceeds to pay for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

‘We’re going to seize their yachts, their luxury homes and other ill-begotten gains of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s kleptocracy,’ Biden said from the White House on Thursday morning. ‘These are bad guys.’

The legislation would ‘create new procedures of forfeiture and seizure of these properties and it’s going to assure that when the oligarchs’ assets are sold off, funds can be used directly to remedy the harm Russia caused and help build Ukraine,’ Biden said.

It is part of Biden’s call to Congress to approve an additional $33billion in security, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The president said it is ‘critical’ for the US to continue providing assistance to Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion, and that current funding has run out.

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‘The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,’ Biden said. ‘We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.’

Biden stressed that the US is not sending troops, but that his administration will continue to do all it can to hold Russia accountable for ‘Putin’s war’.

‘We’re not attacking Russia – we’re helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,’ Biden said.

‘And just as Putin chose to launch this brutal invasion, he could make the choice to end this brutal invasion. Russia is the aggressor, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Russia is the aggressor, and the world must and will hold Russia accountable.’

The US has already seized million of dollars worth of property from Russian oligarchs linked to Putin. More than a dozen yachts worth about $2.5billion have been seized worldwide since Russia began its full-scale invasion. The US and its allies have hoped that targeting wealthy individuals would prompt them to sway Putin against continuing his war on Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted 417-8 in favor of urging the Biden administration liquidate the assets seized from Russian oligarchs to assist Ukraine.

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