Game of Drones: Deep strikes into Russia keeping Ukraine 'in this game'
Mark Owen is pleased to welcome Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative. He argues that Ukraine’s expanding long-range strike campaign has helped Ukraine “stay in this game” by raising the economic, military and social costs of Russia’s invasion and, crucially, by bringing the consequences of a distant war increasingly into Russian life. As Ukraine braces for another brutal…
Four European Union nations – Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Poland – have rekindled their efforts to utilize Russia's frozen assets, totaling over €200 billion ($233 billion), to support Ukraine, according to The Financial Times. This coalition of countries had previously urged the European Commission to recommence work on this matter. However, Belgium's veto in December arose from legal and financial apprehensions.
As per the Council, the EU's €90 billion ($105 billion) loan suffices to cater to two-thirds of Ukraine's anticipated funding requirements for the fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard acknowledged the loan as "a manifestation of the EU’s commitment to support Ukraine," yet emphasized that it remains "clearly not enough."
A draft document, dated August 27, solicits EU foreign ministers to convene an initial discussion in Ireland on September 1-2. Multiple EU diplomats disclosed to the outlet that this proposal is anticipated to be dispatched on the same day. EU regulations already allocate profits from these frozen assets to Ukraine, primarily to aid in repaying EU and G7 loans. The Commission proposed utilizing the cash reserves from these Russian holdings for a distinct reparations loan, reserving the assets as frozen.
In February, Kaja Kallas revealed that EU officials had not undertaken any further actions concerning this option since December. Concurrently, Ukrainians and their supporters orchestrated demonstrations across numerous countries from August 22 to 24, advocating for Europe to leverage these assets.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Russia hits Ukraine with Onyx, Iskander missiles overnight english.nv.ua
- Four EU states revive push to use Russia’s frozen billions for Ukraine euromaidanpress.com
- General Staff: Russia has lost 1,482,150 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022 kyivindependent.com
