Photo composition: A Russian ruble coin (front) and St. Basil cathedral in central Moscow (background). Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP.
The European Union has approved the use of revenues from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Tuesday, adding that 90% of the sum would go to the Ukrainian armed forces.
“We have approved in the EU using revenues from Russia’s central bank’s frozen assets to help Ukraine. Up to €3B only this year, 90% goes for Ukraine’s military,” Lipavsky said on X.
Following the start of Russia’s special military operation, the US-led West slapped widespread sanctions on Moscow, including freezing Russian assets worth approximately 300 billion euros ($329 billion). The bulk of this sum, approximately 200 billion euros ($221 billion), is being held in the European Union, predominantly in accounts at Euroclear, a European central securities depository.
US House Passes Bill To Give Frozen Russian Assets to Ukraine
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the EU plan to seize Russian central bank assets was an “escalation of economic aggression” and a trade war, and warned that Russia would respond in a correspondingly harsh manner. She said that any attempt to confiscate Russian assets would be a gross violation of the West’s own law, international rules and bilateral obligations.
(Sputnik)
