The European Union allocated the first payment of 1.5bn euros from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, but the European Peace Facility would receive 90% of the proceeds.
The remaining 10 per cent will go to the Ukraine Fund to support the country’s military capabilities and its reconstruction. The money channelled through the funds of the European Peace Facility would be used to finance the purchase of priority military equipment such as air defence and ammunition for artillery, as well as purchases for the Ukrainian defence industry, EU High Representative Josep Borrell announced.
We are not only providing military support to Ukraine but also made in Ukraine, contributing to Ukraine’s resilience in combating Russia’s war of aggression.
The freezing of the Russian Central Bank’s assets was the result of EU sanctions against Russia adopted after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022.
In February, EU governments agreed that central securities depositories holding more than €1 million in assets and reserves of the Russian Central Bank frozen under the EU sanctions must set aside extraordinary cash balances and cannot dispose of net income earned by EU operators. European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen stated:
There is no better symbol or use for the Kremlin’s money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live.
Currently, only Euroclear Belgium falls within that scope, making the revenues available to the European Commission on 23 July. The Commission stated that the next request for a financial contribution from Euroclear Belgium would take place in March 2025.
Cluster munitions for Ukraine
According to an unnamed US military spokesman, M864 and M483A1 cluster munitions from US-owned depots will be delivered to Ukraine as part of US military aid to Kyiv. However, German military experts argued that the move could be regarded as a violation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibiting the storage of such weapons on German territory and their shipping.
The US coordinates the delivery of all weapons with the Bundeswehr, but the source has not specified whether the transport of cluster munitions is coordinated with Berlin. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that he did not know where the cluster munitions were delivered to Ukraine from.
On 23 June, Ukrainian troops had already used cluster munition missiles to target Sevastopol, Crimea, leaving more than 150 people injured and four dead. Earlier, US presidential aide Jake Sullivan said that Washington had decided to provide Kyiv with cluster munitions, the use of which is opposed by the UN.
