One of EU countries is blocking already reached agreements on assistance to Ukraine - Borrell
There is currently no unanimity in the European Union on the purchase of weapons for Ukraine using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
This was announced by Vice-President of the European Commission, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell after a meeting of defence ministers of the EU member states, Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.
"We have approved legal acts for the use of excess profits from Russian immobilised assets. You know that this was politically agreed. Today we have approved the legal acts and agreed on my proposal to use 90% of these profits for the immediate military needs of Ukraine through the European Peace Fund," Borrell said.
At the same time, he said, all the necessary decisions have not yet been approved to use the profits from frozen assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine through the European Peace Fund.
"I won't deny it, as I'm sure you already know - we've had a tense, even heated discussion about this military support for Ukraine, which faces some obstacles in achieving the necessary unanimity to make it effective," Borrell said.
The head of European diplomacy reminded that back in March, EU leaders politically approved the creation of a €5 billion fund to help Ukraine under the European Peace Facility, but this special fund has not yet been launched. According to him, the overwhelming majority of EU member states are in favour of all pending decisions on the implementation of the new Assistance Fund for Ukraine being approved as soon as possible, including the decision that would allow the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to be used to purchase weapons.
At the same time, there is no unanimity among the EU member states due to the position of one country, the name of which Borrell does not disclose. Presumably, it is Hungary.
As Borrell noted, there are still 7 unapproved legal texts for mobilising resources to support Ukraine militarily.
"Therefore, we cannot allow the EU's military support for Ukraine to be held hostage to other decisions. It has nothing to do with this particular issue, especially given the emergency nature of the situation. Ukraine needs weapons now, not next year," Borrell said.
The EU High Representative said that the EU has already experienced a long delay in making the necessary decisions to provide military support to Ukraine. He hopes that the EU will soon be able to finalise long-term commitments to Ukraine, which will include security and defence aspects.
