The head of the European Union’s foreign policy department, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that he will propose that the EU use 90% of the revenues received from Russian assets frozen in Europe to purchase weapons for Ukraine through the European Peace Fund. Reuters reports.
The head of European diplomacy told the press in Brussels that he will offer to transfer the remaining 10% to the EU budget to increase the potential of the Ukrainian defense industry.
He said he would present the proposal to EU member states on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
Borrell emphasized that the proposal is to use the profits from the assets that are located in Europe, not the assets themselves. According to him, it can bring about 3 billion euros annually.
“A specific proposal will be presented tomorrow. Member states must agree to this,” he said.
Frozen Russian assets can bring in billions of euros annually
Russian assets seized in the European Union after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine could bring in a total of 15 billion to 20 billion euros by 2027, depending on changes in global interest rates, a senior EU official said last Tuesday.
About 70 percent of all Russian assets immobilized in the West are held by the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear, which holds the equivalent of 190 billion euros in various Russian central bank securities and cash.
From the beginning of the war until February of last year, the profit from Russian assets amounted to 5.2 billion euros.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal two weeks ago asked Western countries to transfer to Kyiv about 300 billion euros of Russian assets frozen as a result of sanctions, so that elections in countries allied with Ukraine do not affect their support for the war with Russia.
This call was made in the context of the fact that Ukraine, which is experiencing difficulties at the front in the face of the Russian offensive, is concerned about the decrease in military and financial aid from the West in the context of discord in the US and the EU.
In late February, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday called on Western countries to be “braver” and confiscate frozen Russian assets to redistribute them to Ukraine.
Source: Hot News
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