By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will request Congress for additional funds Thursday to help Ukraine’s army. He also requested new legal tools that would tighten the sanctions on Russian oligarchs and siphon off assets.

Biden will likely ask Congress for substantial sums of money to assist Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. He also wants new legal authority to seize the cash from Russian oligarchs for war expenses.

According to Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the U.S., officials expect the entire amount to be needed through September to help support Ukraine’s military operation and provide humanitarian and economic assistance.

Biden will also combine this request with a proposal that lawmakers give his administration new abilities, which would allow U.S. officials to seize more assets from oligarchs and transfer cash to Ukraine to further criminalize sanctions evasion, according to the White House.

These steps involve allowing the Justice Department to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (U.S. Racketeering Law) Act against the mafia in order to bring cases against those who are trying to evade sanctions.

Biden wants to extend the statute limit on money laundering prosecutions by 10 years. This would give prosecutors more time for such cases. A summary of his proposals states that he will also criminalize the possession of money obtained through corrupt deals with Russia.

These measures were taken as part of U.S. efforts in Russia to be punished for the Feb. 24 invasion. They also help Kyiv to recover from a war which has left cities in ruins and caused more than 5,000,000 people to flee to other countries.

The U.S. has provided $3 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia started a special military operation to demilitarize, denazify, and demilitarize Ukraine. That is rejected by Kyiv as well as its Western allies.

The Biden administration stated that $30 billion in assets owned by rich individuals connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin were frozen by the United States of America and European allies.

Biden will discuss the request from Congress at the White House at 10:00 a.m. (1450 GMT).