EU to fund Ukraine's arms with profits from frozen Russian assets
6:11 AM EDT, March 16, 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe will be used to support the purchase of weapons for Ukraine. This declaration came after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron.
During the press conference following the Weimar Triangle leaders' meeting in Berlin, Chancellor Scholz revealed that Poland, Germany, and France are committed to supporting Ukraine and will continue their efforts without wavering.
He mentioned that the leaders have agreed to procure an even larger quantity of weapons for the Ukrainian military and to increase the production of military equipment.
Scholz, Tusk, and Macron emphasized that the earnings from the frozen Russian assets in Europe will be allocated to finance the acquisition of weapons for Ukraine. The defense ministers of France, Germany, and Poland are scheduled to discuss this matter further on Monday.
What is the financial contribution to armaments?
There have been previous suggestions to redirect profits from the assets of the Russian central bank, frozen in Europe, to Ukraine. The Belgian clearinghouse Euroclear reported that this could result in approximately 4.4 billion dollars annually.
An EU high-ranking official, in a conversation with Reuters, indicated that the bloc anticipates the frozen Russian assets could generate profits between 16.5 and 22 billion dollars by 2027.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union froze Russian assets totaling about 220 billion dollars.
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