France uses frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine with missiles
France intends to deliver anti-aircraft missiles and other weaponry to Ukraine. Importantly, the funds for purchasing these weapons will be sourced from Russia's frozen assets.
French taxpayers can be satisfied knowing that new methods have been identified to finance support for Ukraine. In the weeks ahead, steps will be taken in this direction, including providing Mistral anti-aircraft missiles and other weaponry to Kyiv in partnership with Italy. According to Sébastien Lecornu, following discussions with defense ministers from Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, and France, this initiative will be funded using revenues generated from frozen Russian assets.
As he highlighted, France will continue training Ukrainian soldiers and plans to enhance its capabilities in this area. Lecornu reported that 2,300 soldiers from the Ukrainian brigade "Anna of Kyiv," who were trained at bases in Champagne, returned to Ukraine.
Will Western military personnel go to Ukraine?
Earlier, sources from Le Monde indicated that France and the UK had resumed discussions about the possibility of sending military personnel or private military company employees to Ukraine. According to these sources, Paris and London do not rule out forming a coalition to support Kyiv.
At the end of May, the Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, following talks with the French defense minister, stated that Kyiv welcomed Paris's initiative to send military instructors to Ukraine. Syrsky emphasized that the necessary documents for this have already been signed.
Billions from Russian assets
Following the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, approximately 220 billion dollars of the Russian central bank's reserves were frozen in European Union countries. In January this year, the European Commission issued a regulation stating that the income from the reinvestment of these assets does not belong to Russia and can, therefore, be allocated to aid Ukraine.
At the beginning of October, EU countries approved granting Ukraine a loan of 37 billion dollars from the revenues of Russian assets. The European Parliament later ratified this decision. The funds are to be provided to Ukraine by the end of 2025. Previously, EU countries that provided weapons to Kyiv, along with Ukraine, received the first 1.5 billion dollars from the income derived from Russia's assets.
