Representational image. Reuters File
Russia on Thursday fired over 30 missiles at Kyiv, making it the largest such attack on the Ukrainian capital. Amid this, the European Union on Thursday urged stakeholders to fast-track efforts to aid the war-torn country both militarily and financially.
During a meeting in Brussels, one diplomat said there is a “new sense of urgency and immediacy” over the Russia-Ukraine war.
On the same day, the EU also examined ways to confiscate billions of euros in interest from frozen Russian assets and send the profits to Ukraine.
“Now that we are facing the biggest security threat since the Second World War, it is high time we take radical and concrete steps to be defence-ready and put the EU’s economy on a war footing,” Charles Michel, the president of the European council said.
One of the high-ranking officials said that arms would be delivered to Ukraine “in weeks,” but said that the EU needs to plan something for the “long term.”
“For the last five to 10 years it’s been all about cutting the defence budget. Every year; now that has changed,” the official.
Since Russia launched an all-out offensive against Ukraine in 2022, €190 billion in Russian sovereign assets have been immobilised, generating €3.85 billion in profits.
What will the asset profits be used for?
Initially, the European Union had planned the funds derived from Russian assets to be utilised in reconstructing Ukraine. After deliberation, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called for the funds to be used to further Ukraine’s military arsenal.
The latest plan would provide Ukraine between €and €3 billion, subject to interest rates, officials have said.
Two-thirds of these funds are in the EU with the majority of that held by Belgium’s clearing house Euroclear. So far, only taxes on the assets in Belgium have been earmarked to a dedicated fund for Ukraine handled by the Belgian government.
The EU estimates some 15 billion euros ($16.17 billion) in such profits could be carved out for Ukraine over the next 4 years. Separately, the EU has agreed to allocate 50 billion euros ($53.89 billion) in aid to Kyiv.
