Borrell wants to use 90 pct of frozen Russian assets revenues to buy arms for Ukraine

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday he will propose that the EU uses 90 percent of the revenues from Russian assets frozen in Europe to buy arms for Ukraine via the European Peace Facility fund.

The EU’s top diplomat told reporters in Brussels he would propose that the remaining 10 percent be transferred to the EU budget to be used to boost the capacity of the Ukrainian defense industry.

He said he would submit the proposal to EU member states on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.

A senior EU official said last week that Russian assets frozen in the European Union are likely to generate between 15 billion and 20 billion euros in after-tax profits until 2027, depending on global interest rates.

Some 70 percent of all Russian assets immobilized in the West is held in the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear, which has the equivalent of 190 billion euros worth of various Russian central bank securities and cash.

Borrell stressed the proposal was to use profits from the assets held in Europe rather than the assets themselves. He said this could yield some 3 billion euros annually.

“The concrete proposal will be tabled tomorrow,” he said. “This is for member states to agree.”