In a significant shift from prior policy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday endorsed a plan to buy weapons for Ukraine using profits generated from seized Russian assets. He made the announcement in Berlin at a press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “We will use windfall profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe to financially support the purchase of weapons for Ukraine,” Scholz said.

“Two-thirds of the roughly $300 billion in reserves were sitting in European banks and clearinghouses. As those assets mature and are reinvested, they have generated profits that EU officials say could reach 15 billion euros, equivalent to more than $16 billion, over the next four years.” The report notes further that “The bulk of the European assets were held by Belgium’s Euroclear clearinghouse.”

division remains within the G7, also because what many countries would view as outright theft could sow mistrust of keeping their assets in Western financial institutions, leading to a weakening of international confidence in the euro and dollar.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/europe-arm-ukraine-using-profits-seized-russian-funds