EU to Allocate First Part of €2.5bn from Russian Assets to Support Ukraine Next Week

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said that next week the EU will allocate the first part of 2.5bn euros from the proceeds of Russia’s frozen assets to support Ukraine. According to European Pravda, he said this before the start of the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. He said the EU should look for a way to make use of frozen Russian assets, avoiding any blocking by member states. “And we have a legal procedure in place to avoid any blockages. The first tranche will arrive next week, in July. The second one will come in a few weeks,” Borrell said, specifying that the first part of the 2.5bn euros will be allocated next week to support Ukraine. The top EU diplomat pointed out that the recent Peace Summit in Switzerland, “opened a diplomatic path” to ending the war, but Putin responded by “going everywhere he can get weapons.” “We must increase our support for Ukraine. Ukraine needs support now,” Borrell summarized. He said earlier that the EU had worked out a legal workaround to avoid Hungary’s veto on arms purchases for Ukraine using proceeds from frozen Russian assets this year. The Financial Times notes that by bypassing Hungary’s veto it is also possible to remove an obstacle that could complicate G7 efforts to secure a $50bn loan for Kyiv by December. At the same time, officials say Hungary could still veto EU sanctions that block Russian assets, a decision that the 27 EU countries must unanimously renew every six months.