In a recent development, France has announced that it would use a portion of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to finance the procurement of weapons for Ukraine. This decision comes after Kiev requested Paris to expedite its weapons deliveries. Western countries have frozen $300 billion in Russian sovereign reserves as a response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. However, while Kiev and some European supporters have called for the complete confiscation of these funds, the EU has yet to find an appropriate legal method for doing so.
The European Commission did agree in June to make €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) of the interest accumulated from Russian assets available for aid to Ukraine. The French Defense Ministry stated on Friday that the European Commission and the French Directorate General of Armaments have agreed to use these funds to rapidly purchase priority munitions, artillery, and air defense equipment worth €300 million ($332 million) by 2024 from the French industry. This move aims to further support Ukraine and bolster the French industry in its efforts to assist Kiev.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky urged France, Britain, and the US this month to expedite weapons deliveries as Ukrainian forces have struggled to halt the steady advance of the Russian army in the Donbass region. Decisions are needed, as are timely logistics for the announced aid packages,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Moscow has maintained that freezing its assets abroad was illegal under international law and equated it to theft. In June, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that any response from Russia would be severely damaging to Brussels.