BRUSSELS, June 24. /TASS/. At a regular meeting of the EU Council foreign ministers of 27 EU countries approved the decision to transfer 1.4 billion euros of profits from Russia’s frozen assets to the European Peace Facility for military assistance to Ukraine, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told a press conference following the results of the meeting.
“The ministers today agreed on the legal framework for the allocation of the windfall profits from immobile Russian assets to the European peace facility. The windfall profits coming from Russian assets frozen in Europe, not the assets itself, will be used in the swiftest possible manner for the benefit of Ukraine. 1.4 billion (euros) will be available in the course of next month, and another billion by the end of the year, Borrell said.
According to him, this money will be used to purchase air defense systems and ammunition for Ukraine, as well as support the defense industry of the country.
The head of EU diplomacy also noted that Hungary cannot block the use of profits from Russian assets for Ukraine, since it did not participate in the decision.
“We think that this is legal, since one country did not take part in the decision making, and therefore does not have the right to take part in the decision about the purposes for which the money is allocated,” he said.
Borrell noted that Hungary continues to block payments in the amount of 6 billion euros from the European Peace Facility to Ukraine.
Borrell also said that the European Union and Ukraine intend to sign an agreement on security guarantees for Kiev by the end of June.
“We are finalizing our security commitments for Ukraine. I hope this work will be completed very soon so we can sign this agreement maybe still this month, maybe on the margins of the next European Union Council (June 27-28 – TASS), Borrell said stressing that thus document will serve as a signal to Moscow about the EU’s support to Kiev.
Frozen Russian assets
The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan froze Russia’s assets in the amount of about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. Of these, about $5-6 billion are located in the United States, and most of them are in Europe, including on the international Euroclear site in Belgium (where $210 billion is stored).
As Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated, Moscow will immediately take retaliatory steps. She called the West’s intentions to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets in favor of Ukraine cynical and criminal.