(Bloomberg) -- The US is exploring options to use $300 billion in Russian state assets frozen at the outbreak of its Ukraine invasion to help pay for the war-torn country’s reconstruction, a top US Treasury official said.

“We’re looking for ways to unlock the economic value of those reserves for the Ukrainian people,” US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance.”

Adeyemo spoke Friday as the US announced a massive package of sanctions targeting Russia, expanding what’s already its largest-ever sanctions program but which has failed to convince Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to withdraw. 

The US and its Group of Seven allies have considered a windfall tax approach in Europe to use any profits from the assets for rebuilding Ukraine. The White House is also supporting efforts in Congress to amend US law to allow it to seize the assets.

When asked about whether seizing sovereign assets would discourage other countries from participating in the US-dominated global financial system, Adeyemo said: “Russia is the one who violated that rules based oder by invading Ukraine.”

--With assistance from Viktoria Dendrinou.

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