Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maliuska told the POLITICO newspaper that the annual package of €3 billion raised from profits from frozen Russian assets is “almost nothing” in the context of Ukraine’s military needs.
Earlier, the European Union approved the plan to use profits from the €2.5 billion to €3 billion annual investment of frozen Russian assets in Europe. 90 per cent of the profits are set to be used to buy weapons, with the remaining 10 per cent going to non-military aid.
The Ukrainian side, for its part, said the €3 billion in aid was “a good first step,” but still “almost nothing” compared to the fact that Ukraine was in a difficult situation and was doing its best to contain Russian forces. Justice Minister told POLITICO at the G7 justice ministers’ meeting in Venice on Thursday:
“If we are talking about the needs of Ukraine and the needs of the war, military and non-military, €3 billion is actually almost nothing – we need hundreds of billions in order to win the war.”
Nevertheless, he stressed that as Ukraine struggles with an ammunition shortage, it is unclear how far the funds will go, while the Ukrainian government insists that the seizure of Russian assets is a legitimate action. He said:
“The Ukrainian government really would like to get full confiscation [of Russian assets] and really believe this is lawful and this is the only approach which will be decisive in terms of the resolution of the war [with Russia].”
The agreement clears the way for the European Union to send money to the country in July, but the initiative is unrelated to a broader push by the United States to seize assets in full to support Ukraine.
The European Union has immobilised over €200 billion worth of Russian state assets since February 2022 to help Kyiv rebuild. In February, European Union leaders agreed on an additional €50 billion support package for Ukraine as part of the bloc’s budget, and European Council President Charles Michel said this would allow Ukraine to have “steadfast, long-term, predictable funding” for the country.
