The European Commission buys weapons for Ukraine from the profits of Russia’s blocked assets

– International news – Tasnim News Agency, quoted by “De Sight” magazine, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Union Commission, announced in a speech that The European Union should use the profits from Russia’s frozen assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.

He said in a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg: “It is time to talk about the use of windfall funds from Blocked Russian assets to talk about the joint purchase of military equipment for Ukraine.

Von der Leyen said: “There can be no stronger symbol and no better use of this money to make Ukraine and the whole of Europe a safer place to live.”

He received support from German Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire in this regard at the Group of 20 meeting in Brazil.

The United States also It insists that about 264 billion euros of blocked Russian money be used for Ukraine. On the other hand, for legal reasons, EU countries only want to use the profits from these assets. It is Russia. This is why we can access the income from blocked funds. “This is a realistic and legally certain step that can be implemented in the short term. And that is what we are focusing on,” the German minister said. According to him, this can reach a billion figure, which will grow over time.

Lomer, the Minister of Finance of France, also made similar statements in this regard. He said: We do not have the legal ability to confiscate Russian assets. However, doing so can be more divisive. This requires the unified support of Ukraine. Lomer called the proposal of the head of the European Union Commission interesting. According to him, the exact purpose of this profit still needs to be clarified. The European Parliament also debated whether the money could be used to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure, which has been badly damaged by Russia. Von der Leyen also called for the expansion of the European arms industry and the strengthening of the armed forces in the European Union. He said that the threat of war for the EU “may not be imminent, but it is not impossible.”

Recently, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also stressed the need to send more weapons to Ukraine than his decisions to transfer profits. Blocked assets of Russia informed Kiev.

The European Union is saving billions of blocked funds of the Russian Central Bank in the shadow of sanctions in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The proceeds from this will be transferred to Ukraine in the future. The rotating presidency of the European Union in Belgium recently announced that the representatives of the 27 member states agreed on a proposal in this regard. According to estimates, an amount equivalent to billions can be obtained every year because, according to Commission, more than 200 billion from the Central Bank of Russia have been frozen in the EU, and the income from holding this capital is constantly increasing. First of last year, it had three billion euros in interest income, which is related to the Russian sanctions. Euroclare is the main institution in the European Union that holds the assets of the Russian central bank.

While Russia warned the European Union last year not to confiscate the assets of the Russian government or Russian citizens. In addition, according to experts, the direct use of Russian assets can lead to the loss of trust of other countries and investors in the European financial center and the withdrawal of assets from the European Union. He also provided a vision of the new European defense industry strategy that the European Commission plans to present in the coming weeks. According to him, one of the main goals is to give priority to the joint purchase of weapons. More support from the Balkan countries for Ukraine