The first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine will arrive next week - Borrel
Kyiv • UNN
The EU is using the first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets to provide military support to Ukraine, with initial funds coming next week in July and the rest coming in the coming months, bypassing any potential blockages from certain member states.
The first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine will arrive next week, in July. It was possible to get a procedure for this, avoiding any blocking, and today the methodology for using this money is expected to be approved. This was stated to journalists on Monday by the head of EU diplomacy Josep barrel, writes UNN.
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"... we must increase support for Ukraine. We have income from frozen assets, and we must look for a way to use them while avoiding any blocking. we have a process that allows you to do this job quickly. The first tranche of money will arrive next week, in July. The second one will arrive in a few months. This money cannot be stopped. They need to be used, and we have a legal procedure that allows us to avoid any blockages," Borrel said.
"We have discussed this, but as you know, we still have six legal decisions that cannot be implemented due to the refusal of one [member state]. We must avoid this for Russian revenues. We have a solution, and we put it on the table today," the EU High Representative said.
He stressed that Ukraine needs more help-and needs more help now, before the summer. "And I hope that the ministers will support the proposal that we made to increase this support at the expense of Russian revenues," Borrel said.
When asked how the frozen assets will be used without Hungary blocking them, the head of EU diplomacy noted that "the treaty provides for legal ways to move forward, even if a member state does not want to participate." "And we believe that since Hungary did not participate in the decision [before], there is no need for them to be able to participate in the implementation of the decision. The decision is unequivocal: the profits from frozen assets – Russian frozen assets – will be used to increase our military support to Ukraine," he said.
Borrel indicated that "the first tranche of money will arrive [within] the following weeks. (...) We have a legal procedure in place to avoid any blocking by certain member states that are not part of the decision. This, of course, should be discussed with the ministers," Borrel said.
When asked if he could explain these 1.4 billion euros of EU money for Ukraine, he pointed out that this is "new money".
"Today we will approve the methodology for using this money. This money is already here. We decided to take this money - we are not going to review the decision that has already been made. Now we have to implement this solution: the money will arrive next week. (...) This money is intended for military support of Ukraine. The decision must be made immediately, avoiding any blockages. This is what we are going to solve today," Borrel said.
When asked about the amount in question, the head of EU diplomacy pointed out that 2.5 billion euros, however, according to him, "next week" will be only "a part of these 2.5 [billion] euros." "The other part will arrive in a few weeks," he said.
