RT reported that on March 9, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that France would use the interest earned from frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to buy weapons for the Ukrainian army.
In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Lecornu said that about 195 million euros will be withdrawn from the interest on frozen Russian assets. The money will be used to support Ukraine with weapons including 155 mm artillery shells, anti-aircraft bombs compatible with Mirage 2000 fighters and a number of unreported armored fighting vehicles.
Earlier, at a meeting between the UK and Ukraine on 1 March, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a loan deal worth £2.26 billion ($2.84 billion) to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities, which will also be repaid from the profits of frozen Russian assets.
On the Russian government's side, on March 9, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that the plan violated international law, and affirmed that the above move showed that Europe was losing its reason.
Volodin has previously issued a tough statement in response to England's similar move. Mr. Volodin warned that Russia had every reason to respond and stressed that London would have to return Moscow the interest from frozen assets.
These statements were made shortly after Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal confirmed that Kiev had received the first amount of about $1 billion from London, guaranteed from profits earned from Russian assets.
At the end of last year, the US also transferred the first amount of $1 billion out of a total of $20 billion in US loans guaranteed by interest earned on frozen Russian assets.
At the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the money had been appropriated by Russia, asserting that the amount of assets was frozen illegally and violated all standards and rules. Mr. Peskov said that Russia will use all legal channels to protect its assets and rights.
Meanwhile, Kiev has long urged Western countries to completely seize frozen Russian assets to finance the military and reconstruction work. However, some EU member states, especially Germany, France and Italy, are skeptical due to legal concerns.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also warned that asset seizures without a clear legal basis could undermine global confidence in Western financial institutions.
