Western countries blocked about USD 300 billion worth of sovereign Russian assets after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
EU countries are taking the interest earned on the assets – which include bonds and other securities bought by the Russian central bank – and putting it into an EU fund to aid Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.
EU governments agreed in June to use EUR 1.4 billion in profits generated by the assets to buy arms and pay for other kinds of support to Ukraine.
The Czech Defense Ministry said some of that money would be used for an effort it has been leading to buy artillery ammunition for Ukraine around the world, funded by Western partners.
“Thanks to proceeds from frozen Russian finances, released by the European Union, we will be able to supply several hundreds of thousands of large-calibre ammunition rounds to Ukraine,” Defense Minister Jana Černochová said.
The ministry did not give further details but said deliveries would be made “in the coming months”, and thus would soon have an impact on the battlefield.
Aside from the newly available funds, the Czechs had collected about EUR 1.7 billion from western partners by May, which the government said was enough to buy half a million shells.
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