Two years into the conflict, dwindling arms supplies have left the Ukrainian military at a disadvantage. (document)
Moscow:
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it would be an “unprecedented violation” of international law if the European Union used frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine.
EU countries have been wrangling for months over what to do with the assets, and the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday proposed a plan to move most of the assets to Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Europeans are well aware of the damage these decisions can cause to their economies, their image and their reputation as reliable guarantors.”
“They will be targets for prosecution for decades to come,” he warned.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned on Wednesday that Moscow would inevitably react to what she called “outright banditry and theft.”
The plan, due to be submitted to member states on Wednesday, would transfer 90% of profits from the assets into a fund to cover Ukraine’s weapons costs.
Another 10% will flow into the EU budget to help improve the capabilities of Ukraine’s domestic defense industry.
The EU’s push to find more funds for Ukraine comes as a $60 billion aid package from the United States, another major backer of Kiev, remains blocked in Congress.
Two years after the conflict, weapons supplies continued to dwindle, leaving the Ukrainian army at a disadvantage on the front lines and unable to stop Russia’s offensive.
After Moscow sent troops into neighboring countries in February 2022, the EU froze about 200 billion euros in assets held by the Russian central bank in the EU as punishment.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
