EU plans to use ‘windfall profits’ on frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine, Scholz says

BERLIN

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that the EU is planning to use “windfall profits” on frozen Russian assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

“These are the profits which are not entitled to anyone, and therefore can be used by the European Union,” he told reporters in Brussels ahead of a summit of European leaders.

“In my view, they should of course be used first and foremost for acquiring weapons and ammunition that Ukraine needs for its defense. It is a major issue that we will be dealing with today, but I believe that we have a broad unity on this,” he said.

Scholz underlined that Europeans should step up efforts to provide Ukraine with urgently needed weapons and ammunition against Russia’s military aggression.

“Germany is way ahead on this. We have now delivered and earmarked €28 billion ($30.5 billion) worth of weapons, this is a huge amount. But all European states have to make a good contribution. I can see noticeable progress there, and we will see what we can do more to increase our support,” he said.

The summit of European leaders comes at a time of increasing concern in Kyiv about the sustainability of US military support due to it being an election year and the likelihood of a second term for former President Donald Trump.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to European allies for more support and warned that the Ukrainian army faces critical shortages of ammunition, especially artillery shells.