German Chancellor Olaf Scholz backed an EU proposal on Monday to use interest payments on Russian assets to boost Ukraine’s defence, adding that about 90% of that revenue should be spent on buying weapons for Kyiv, according to Reuters.
Scholz met with members of the governments of the three Baltic states in Riga. Germany and the Baltic states were pushing for a rapid expansion of arms production in Europe, the chancellor declared, adding that production of ammunition and air defence systems had already been increased.
It is important that we also agree that this money can be used for arms purchases not only in the EU, but for purchases worldwide.
In March, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell proposed taking 90% of the proceeds from Russian assets frozen in Europe and transferring them to an EU-managed fund that financed arms for Ukraine. About 70% of all Russian assets in the west are held at the central securities depository Euroclear in Belgium, which holds the equivalent of 190 billion euros ($204.67 billion) worth of Russian central bank securities and cash.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte stated that the European defence industry was struggling with funding issues and uncertainty over long-term production capacity, but she was optimistic about Rheinmetall‘s planned factory in Lithuania.
Earlier, German activists burned the garden house of Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger in Hermannsburg, Lower Saxony, to protest arms deliveries to Ukraine, according to Bild.
