Paris will use the proceeds from the frozen assets to buy artillery shells and air defense equipment for Kiev
France has announced that it will use a portion of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to fund the purchase of weapons for Ukraine. This decision comes after Ukraine urged France to expedite arms deliveries.
Western countries have frozen $300 billion in Russian assets in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. While Ukraine and some of its supporters in Europe have repeatedly called for the confiscation of these funds, the European Union has so far been unable to find a legal method to do so.
However, the European Commission agreed in June to make €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) of the proceeds from Russian assets available for aid to Ukraine.
“The European Commission has agreed with the French Directorate General of Armaments to use these funds to quickly procure priority munitions, artillery and air defense equipment for Ukraine from the French industry worth 300 million euros [$332 million] by 2024,” the French Defense Ministry stated on Friday.
“This is an opportunity to continue ramping up the French industry in support of Ukraine,” the statement read.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky urged France, Britain and the US this month to expedite the delivery of weapons, as Ukraine’s forces have been unable to hold off the steady advance of the Russian army in the Donbas. “Decisions are needed, as are timely logistics for the announced aid packages,” he said.
Moscow has maintained that the freezing of its assets abroad is illegal under international law and amounts to theft. Moscow’s “inevitable response will be severely damaging to Brussels,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in June.