Russia's frozen assets should be used to purchase badly needed military equipment for Ukraine, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Thursday.
“There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” she said.Russia's frozen assets should be used to purchase badly needed military equipment for Ukraine, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Thursday.
“The threat of war may not be imminent, but it is not impossible. The risks of war should not be overblown, but they should be prepared for,” von der Leyen added.
Her comments came shortly after the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell warned that “Putin has not won yet, but Europe has to wake up.” He then called on EU member states to increase and accelerate aid to Ukraine.
Von der Leye’s controversial proposal, at least from a legal point of view, comes after the EU and the G7, the group of seven leading industrialized nations, proposed to use profits from the estimated $285 billion frozen Russian funds to rebuild Ukraine after the war.
However, some countries raised concerns that confiscating Russian assets would have repercussions on the future of foreign investments in Europe.
On Thursday, von der Leyen’s comments acknowledged there is another recommendation for how to use the Russian reserves, not only to the reconstruction of Ukraine, but to purchase weapons for Ukraine.
“There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” she said.
The Russian invasion has exposed glaring weaknesses in Europe’s arms manufacturing capacities.
Currently, the EU is attempting to put the final touches on a common European defense strategy which aims to establish a committee that jointly purchases military equipment and work for a financial increase of the fund in this sector.
Also, EU member states are concerned about a possible return of former US President Donald Trump to the White House. They fear his comeback would engender a deterioration of relations between Washington and Brussels and could lessen Washington's defensive commitments made to NATO.
