The EU agrees to grant Ukraine 1.4 billion more for the purchase of war material

The foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) agreed this Monday to grant Ukraine a first tranche of 1.4 billion euros from windfall profits from Russian assets tied up by sanctionswhich will be used to purchase military material, community sources have confirmed.

This will be legally possible thanks to the constructive abstention from Hungarywhich until now blocked this matter, diplomatic sources have indicated.

Other diplomatic sources have explained that the Council has been based on a interpretation of community legislation according to which Hungary could not comment on an instrument to which it is not contributing.

The EU had already reached an agreement to use the extraordinary returns generated by Russian assets immobilized by the sanctions imposed by the invasion of Ukraine to pay for military support to kyiv, so that These are not funds contributed by each Member State.

But now it was necessary to implement that decision, which Hungary vetoed like others to finance military aid to Ukraine through the European Peace Support Fund (FEAP). Unanimity is necessary in EU decisions on Foreign Policy.

Upon arrival at the ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg today, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrellhas said that he would propose to the Council a legal method to circumvent Hungary’s veto and for Ukraine to benefit next week from the extraordinary returns on frozen Russian assets.

Borrell explained that community treaties provide “the legal avenues to move forward even if some Member States do not want to participate.”

The head of community diplomacy thus hoped to prevent Hungary from blocking money for Ukraine from the returns on Russian assets, as it is doing with up to seven legal acts that would allow the disbursement of 6.6 billion euros for the financing of lethal equipment and non-lethal for kyiv.