US Attorney General Merrick Garland authorized the United States to begin using seized Russian money to aid Ukraine.
The announcement came during a meeting between Garland and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin in Washington on Friday.
"I am announcing that I have authorized the first-ever transfer of forfeited Russian assets for use in Ukraine," Garland said, according to CNN.
The money will come from assets confiscated from Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev after his indictment on sanctions evasions in April, Garland added. The money will go to the State Department "to support the people of Ukraine," CNN reported Garland as saying.
Kostin welcomed the move, which he said would see $5.4 million (€5 million) of confiscated assets go toward "rebuilding Ukraine."
"Delighted to see the new legislation aimed at seizing the Russian oligarchs' illicit assets in action," he posted on Twitter, along with a picture of himself and Garland during the meeting.
"The inherent part of accountability is that the perpetrator pays for the harm inflicted," Kostin added at the end of his tweet thread.
Russian millionaire Malofeyev is considered one of the main sources of funding for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. In April, the US Treasury blacklisted a network of some 40 individuals and entities led by Malofeyev that it said were used to facilitate sanctions evasion.
