EU leaders have agreed in principle to commandeer a large majority of the profits generated from frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine.
The proposal could generate €3bn (£2.6bn) this year and the first billion could be released to Ukraine by July, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said late on Thursday at the end of the first day of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.
“I told the leaders that if we are swift now in concluding the proposal, we could disburse the first billion on the first of July. So it depends on us,” she said, adding there was strong support to use the proceeds on “military purposes for Ukraine.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
EU leaders have agreed in principle to commandeer a large majority of the profits generated from frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine.
The proposal could generate €3bn (£2.6bn) this year and the first billion could be released to Ukraine by July, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said late on Thursday at the end of the first day of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said such a move would be a flagrant breach of international law, but EU diplomats said they were all agreed the profits or interest generated by the frozen assets could be used in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy had urged EU leaders to increase support with more air cover to protect eastern cities from Russian bombardment, including the release of frozen assets.
“The aggressor should pay the highest price for the war – this is in line with both the letter and spirit of the law,” he told EU leaders in a video address.
At their summit, EU leaders gave a further boost to bids by Ukraine and Moldova to become members of the bloc, agreeing to ask the commission to “swiftly adopt the negotiation framework [for accession] without delay”.
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