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The European Union is advancing a proposal to allocate the earnings from frozen Russian assets in Europe towards aiding Ukraine, specifically for military and financial support.

This initiative, highlighted by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, has garnered approval from a majority of EU foreign ministers. Borrell anticipates that the plan will receive further backing during an EU summit in Brussels. Ukraine’s critical shortage of munitions, compounded by a halt in the United States’ congressional funding for new weaponry, has heightened the urgency for this move.

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Approximately $217 billion in Russian central bank assets, mainly frozen in Belgium due to the war in Ukraine, is under the EU’s control. The interest from these assets is projected to generate around $3.2 billion annually. Borrell said, “The Russians will not be very happy. The amount of money, 3 billion per year, is not extraordinary, but it is not negligible.”

The plan suggests distributing the funds differently to navigate the diverse stances within the EU, particularly from countries like Hungary that oppose arming Ukraine. 90% of the profits would contribute to a special fund reimbursing EU nations for weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukraine. The remaining 10% would enhance Ukraine’s defense industry through the EU budget, offering a compromise for countries reluctant to arm Ukraine directly.

Despite concerns from the European Central Bank about the potential risks of asset seizure on the euro and EU markets, Borrell clarified that only the profits, not the assets themselves, would be utilized.

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