EU transfers $1.6 billion to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets
The European Union announced Friday that it has made available $1.6 billion to Ukraine, the money is the interest generated from $225 billion in immobilized Russian Central Bank assets.
The Russian assets, frozen under sanctions levied in retaliation for Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion, are projected to generate an estimated $3.2 billion annually.
EU officials say 90% of the funds will be held in the European Peace Facility, a reimbursement account for member states of the European bloc that send arms, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine. The remaining 10% will get absorbed by the bloc's budget for Ukrainian defense and reconstruction.
Ukraine has expressed concern that Russian forces would further advance into the country if financial support were to halt.
Ukrainian officials reported Friday that missiles struck a Russian military airfield in Crimea, the latest in a series of attacks in the region. A statement released by Ukraine claimed that the airfield is often used by Russia to control the airspace and launch attacks against Ukraine.
According to Ukraine, the attacks in Crimea have forced the Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet to relocate combat vessels to a safe harbor.
NATO member Finland has suspected that Russia violated their territory Friday with a Russian vessel believed to have been spotted in the eastern Gulf of Finland. On June 10, the country reported four Russian planes in its airspace.
Ukraine was accused of blackmail Friday by Hungary for blocking oil transit from Lukoil, a Russian group. This comes after Ukraine issued sanctions that blocked transit of Russian crude via the Druzhba pipeline in June.
The dispute has shown how some EU countries like Slovakia and Hungary still depend on Russian energy more than two years after a decision in the bloc to stop oil imports following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Governments in Bratislava and Budapest, which oppose the sanctions against Moscow and sending military aid to Kyiv - have blasted Ukraine for the halt to Lukoil supplies. They're seeking EU mediation in the dispute.
Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said Friday Ukraine's decision was blackmail for Hungary's and Slovakia's positions on Russia's war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials hold that the decision to move forward with the sanctions are not blackmail and have nothing to do with the matter.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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