BRUSSELS: The European Commission president on Friday announced that the EU has transferred over $1.6 billion to Ukraine from frozen assets of Russia, marking the first such use of the immobilized assets.
Ursula von der Leyen in a post on X, said, “The EU stands with Ukraine.”
“There is no better symbol or use for the Kremlin’s money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” she said.
Earlier, the European Bloc member states had agreed to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian Central Bank assets to support Ukraine and finance its post-war reconstruction.
The EU froze about 200 billion euros of Russian Central Bank held in the bloc as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow for its war against Ukraine in 2022. Belgium-based international deposit organization Euroclear is holding about 90 percent of the Russian assets frozen in the EU.
The money comes from interest generated from the frozen assets of Russia, not the funds themselves, which remain locked in Europe.
According to Brussels 90 percent of the money would go to a central fund used to pay for weapons for Ukraine, known as the European Peace Facility. The rest of the 10 percent would go to the EU’s separate Ukraine Facility to finance the country’s reconstruction needs.
Soon after the development Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the EU for its support. “Thank you von der Leyen and the EU for your steadfast support and this significant contribution to Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction,” he said on social media.
“We are grateful to the EU for taking this vital step. This transfer will help us strengthen our defense capabilities,” the Ukrainian defense ministry said.
Russia, however, strongly condemned the move terming it illegal. “This is reason, of course, for thoughtful actions in response to such illegal decisions, which are implemented by the European Union,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told journalists.
