France arms Ukraine using Russian funds for missile delivery
France plans to provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and other armaments. Interestingly, the cost of purchasing these weapons will be covered by Russian funds.
French taxpayers can be satisfied knowing that new methods have been identified to finance support for Ukraine. In the weeks ahead, steps will be taken to implement this approach, including providing Mistral anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons to Kyiv in partnership with Italy. The funding for this initiative will come from revenues generated by frozen Russian assets, explained Sébastien Lecornu following discussions with defence ministers from Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, and France.
As he noted, France will continue training Ukrainian soldiers and plans to enhance its capabilities in this area. Lecornu reported that 2,300 soldiers of the Ukrainian brigade "Anna Kijowska," trained at facilities in Champagne, recently returned to Ukraine.
Will Western military personnel travel to Ukraine?
Earlier, sources from Le Monde reported that France and the United Kingdom have resumed discussions on possibly sending military personnel or private military company employees to Ukraine. According to these sources, Paris and London do not rule out forming a coalition to support Kyiv.
At the end of May, Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrski, after talks with the French Defence Minister, stated that Kyiv welcomes Paris's initiative to send military instructors to Ukraine. Syrski emphasized that the necessary documents for this have already been signed.
Billions from Russian assets
In the European Union countries, after Russia's war against Ukraine began, about $220 billion in reserves from the Russian central bank were frozen. In January, the European Commission issued a regulation stating that the proceeds from reinvesting these assets do not belong to Russia and can thus be allocated to aid Ukraine.
At the beginning of October, EU countries approved granting Ukraine a loan of $37 billion from the income from Russian assets. The European Parliament later ratified this decision. The funds are to be transferred to Ukraine by the end of 2025. Previously, EU countries supplying weapons to Kyiv and Ukraine received the first $1.5 billion from the income derived from Russia's assets.
