Finland wants to arm Ukraine with money from Russians, using frozen assets as a result of sanctions

Finland will provide Ukraine to ammunition worth 90 million euros, using for this purpose the revenues generated by the Russian financial assets frozen by the European Union after the invasion of Ukraine launched by Moscow in 2022, reports Reuters.

The EU estimated that 210 billion euros out of the approximately 300 billion in frozen Russian assets are in the community of 27 states, mainly in the form of government bonds that the central bank of Russia kept as reservations. The European Commission decided last year that the revenues generated by these assets can be used to support the Ukrainian army through a fund managed by the European authorities.

“We managed to negotiate additional funding for the support of Finland granted to Ukraine,” said Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen. “The products are purchased from the Finnish industry, which stimulates the employment on the internal level, and are sent to Ukraine to support the defense. I am very pleased with the result,” he added.

According to Reuters, the Kremlin representatives did not respond for a point of view. Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that any approach to confiscate or sell frozen Russian assets following sanctions would be illegal and will be challenged in court.