H.R. 4346 — PEACE Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on repeated Russian military attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, civilian residences, and cities—including strikes on Odesa facilities (six times in two and a half weeks), Kryvyi Rih (killing 20 on April 4, 2025), Sumy (killing 35 on April 13, 2025), and Kyiv (multiple assaults in May and July 2025)—following presidential statements and calls urging peace negotiations and a ceasefire with Russia.

This section directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations, not later than 180 days after enactment, prohibiting or imposing strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of correspondent or payable-through accounts by a foreign financial institution that knowingly provides significant financial services to (1) any foreign person designated for sanctions under Executive Order 14024 or title II of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Public Law 115-44) or amendments thereto; (2) a foreign financial institution subject to prohibitions under Directive 2 of Executive Order 14024; (3) an entity listed in Annex 1 of Directive 3 under Executive Order 14024; or (4) any foreign person operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation. The section establishes civil penalties for violations not exceeding the greater of $377,700 or twice the amount of the underlying transaction and criminal penalties—including fines up to $1 million and, for natural persons, imprisonment up to 20 years—for willful violations.

This section directs the Secretary of the Treasury to submit to the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment, a report determining whether the following are foreign persons described under section 3(a)(4): (1) Gazprom, (2) Rosneft, and (3) Lukoil.

This section authorizes the President to waive the requirements of section 3(a) with respect to a foreign financial institution for not more than 180 days at a time, upon reporting to Congress that the waiver either (1) advances the objective of resolving the national emergency described in the Executive Order listed under section 3(a)(1), or (2) is important to the national interest of the United States, with a detailed explanation of the reasons therefor.

This section directs the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than 90 days after enactment, to seize, confiscate, transfer, or vest covered Russian resources—including any interests therein—held by U.S. financial institutions and deposit the resulting funds into the Ukraine Support Fund established under sec. 104(d) of the REPO for Ukrainians Act (22 U.S.C. 9521 note), which may be used for purposes specified in sec. 104(f) of such Act or to purchase defense articles for the government of Ukraine. The Secretary has the same authority under this section with respect to such resources as the President has under sec. 104(b) of the REPO for Ukrainians Act with respect to Russian aggressor state sovereign assets (i.e., assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation). (As background, the REPO for Ukrainians Act authorizes the seizure of frozen Russian sovereign assets to finance support for Ukraine.) The President may waive these requirements for up to 180 days at a time, for a cumulative period not exceeding one year, upon written notification to Congress that the Russian government is taking meaningful steps to end its aggression against Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity or that the waiver is vital to the U.S. national interest. The section defines covered Russian resources as funds or other property of specified Russian state entities included in reports under directive 4 to Executive Order 14024 or sec. 104(a) of the REPO for Ukrainians Act and located in the United States; it further defines U.S. financial institution to include specified institutions under 31 U.S.C. §5312(a)(2) and others as determined by the Secretary.

This section terminates the Act on the earlier of (1) 30 days after the President reports to Congress that the Russian Federation has ceased destabilizing activities with respect to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine; or (2) five years after the date of enactment.