EU unlocks first €1.4 billion from Russian assets for Ukraine

Luxembourg: The EU on Monday agreed to start paying out a first chunk of funds worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) earned from Russian frozen asset...

Luxembourg: The EU on Monday agreed to start paying out a first chunk of funds worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) earned from Russian frozen assets to help arm Ukraine, bypassing blockages from Hungary.

The money is part of roughly three billion euros a year in interest from immobilised Russian central bank funds that the EU agreed to use for Kyiv in early May.

Since then, the EU's other 26 member states have been hashing out a legal route to unlock the funds without needing approval from Hungary, the friendliest country to Russia in the bloc.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg signed off on the plan to start using the funds generated from the roughly 200 billion euros frozen in the EU after Russia launched its 2022 invasion.

"The windfall profits coming from Russian assets frozen in Europe, not the assets itself, will be used in the swiftest possible manner for the benefit of Ukraine," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.