The European Union (EU) announced on Friday that it had released 1.5 billion euros to support Ukraine, the first tranche of money generated by profits from frozen Russian assets.
In May, the 27 EU member states reached an agreement to use interest earned on some €210 billion of Russian central bank assets for military support for Ukraine and reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country.
The money, most of which is held in Belgium, was frozen under sanctions imposed in retaliation for Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Brussels estimates that interest on the assets could be worth around €3 billion each year.
“The EU stands with Ukraine. Today we are transferring €1.5 billion from the proceeds of Russian immobilised assets to the defence and reconstruction of Ukraine. There is no better symbol or use of Kremlin money than making Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
The move comes days after Moscow announced it had retaken two villages in eastern Ukraine. A recent offensive by Kremlin forces in eastern and northeastern Ukraine has made gradual progress, and kyiv fears that without financial support, Russia could advance further.
EU headquarters said 90% of the money would go into a special fund known as the European Peace Facility, which many EU countries already use to get reimbursed for weapons and ammunition they send to Ukraine.
The remaining 10% would be returned to the EU budget. The programmes financed by this money would help strengthen the Ukrainian defence industry or aid reconstruction, if some countries objected to their share being used for military purposes.
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