Ukraine’s war effort, financed with Russian money. The decision taken by the ambassadors of the EU states in Brussels

The ambassadors of the European Union states in Brussels agreed on the adoption of a normative act by which the profits generated by the assets owned by the central bank of Russia, frozen after the start of the war in Ukraine, can be directed to finance the Ukrainian defense, the Belgian government announced, in a post on X, reports Reuters.

European leaders are to approve the text whereby 90% of the money thus obtained will go into an EU-managed military aid fund for Ukraine, while the remaining 10% will support Kiev in other ways, European sources said.

G7 member states froze about $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, EU and G7 countries have had heated debates over how these funds could be used to help Ukraine .

At the beginning of the year, EU leaders agreed to reserve the profits for Ukraine, estimating that they could reach 15-20 billion euros by 2027. The amount includes about 3 billion euros this year, the first of which will be sent to Kyiv on earlier in July.

Belgian securities company Euroclear manages most of the assets frozen by the EU. Euroclear’s management fee has been reduced to 0.3% to make more money available for Ukraine.