EU to release 1.4Bn euros in military aid to Kiev from Russian assets
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The funds will be used by the EU to purchase essential military equipment for Ukraine, such as air defense systems and artillery ammunition, as well as to support procurement for the Ukrainian defense industry.
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A member of protocol arranges the Ukrainian and EU flags during an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels on Thursday, February 9, 2023. (AP)
Following an EU Foreign Affairs ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that the first installment of 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, funded by the profits from frozen Russian assets, will be disbursed in early August.
"On the windfall profits, I updated the ministers on the progress towards the first transfer of 1.4 billion [euros] expected to happen at the beginning of August, next week," Borrell told reporters.
He also stated that these funds will be used by the EU to purchase essential military equipment for Ukraine, such as air defense systems and artillery ammunition, as well as to support procurement for the Ukrainian defense industry.
"So we are not only going to provide military support to Ukraine, but from Ukraine itself," Borrell added.
On June 12, the G7 stated that Russia must bear responsibility for the damages inflicted on Ukraine, which have surpassed $486 billion. They agreed to provide Ukraine with $50 billion by utilizing frozen Russian assets by the end of the year.
Read more: Release of frozen Russian assets tied to Ukraine peace process: Meloni
On June 20, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia possesses a "wide arsenal" of economic and political countermeasures if the West seizes its sovereign assets, including a tit-for-tat confiscation of Western assets in Russia.
Zakharova highlighted that Russia has a substantial amount of Western assets, including funds and property, under its governance, warning that they could all be subject to seizure as part of the Russian response.
"All of it may be subject to Russian retaliatory policy and retaliatory actions. The arsenal of political and economic countermeasures is wide," she said, without revealing the nature of the possible retaliatory actions.
