EU to disburse first instalment of €2.5bn from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine next week

Corrected: The original version of the news story stated that "next week Ukraine will receive  €2.5 billion" from the proceeds of Russia's frozen assets. The headline and the first and fourth paragraphs of the news were corrected to clarify the quote from the EU foreign policy chief provided by the EU External Action Service. We apologise to our readers for this error.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said that Ukraine will receive the first instalment of  €2.5 billion from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets next week.

Borrell said that the EU should look for a way to use the frozen Russian assets, avoiding any blocking by member states.

"We have these revenues coming from the frozen assets, and we have to look for a way in order to use them, avoiding any kind of blockage. We have a process in order to make this work. The first tranche of money will come next week, in July, yes. The next will come somewhere later," Borrell said, clarifying that Ukraine will receive the first instalment of €2.5 billion next week. 

Borrell said that the recent Peace Summit in Switzerland "where a diplomatic track has been opened" towards ending the war, but Putin responded by "travelling to North Korea, travelling everywhere where he can get arms."

"We have to increase our support to Ukraine," he summed up.  

Earlier, Borrell said that the EU had developed a legal route to bypass Hungary's veto on arms purchases for Ukraine using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets this year, which could also clear the way for the G7 to disburse US$50 billion to Kyiv.