Europe to use frozen Russian profits to arm Ukraine, Scholz says

BERLIN/PARIS/WARSAW - Ukraine’s backers will use windfall profits on frozen Russian assets to finance arms purchases for Kyiv, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, following a meeting with his French and Polish counterparts aimed at showing unity after weeks of friction.

At a joint press conference in Berlin, Mr Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reaffirmed their support for Ukraine, whose

ammunition-starved troops face their toughest battles

since the early days of Russia’s invasion two years ago.

European support has become increasingly key as US President Joe Biden has been

unable to get a big Ukraine aid package through Congress,

and much of his foreign policy energy is focused on the war in Gaza.

Mr Scholz said the leaders had agreed on the need to procure more weapons for Ukraine on the global market and to boost the production of military gear, including through cooperation with partners in Ukraine.

“We will use windfall profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe to financially support the purchase of weapons for Ukraine,” Mr Scholz said, as he listed European Union efforts to increase support for Ukraine.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called in February for the EU to consider using such profits to “jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine”.

The commission is expected to make a concrete proposal in the coming days.

Some EU member countries such as Hungary have signalled reservations about the idea, according to diplomats in Brussels. But Mr Scholz’s comments suggested he is confident that EU countries will ultimately approve the proposal.

Mr Scholz said the leaders also agreed on the need for the Ukraine Defence Contact group – a US-led group of some 50 countries that provide military support to Ukraine – to set up a coalition to provide long-distance artillery to Kyiv.

A proposal to set up a long-range missile coalition had already been agreed in Paris on Feb 26. It was unclear whether Mr Scholz’ comments referred to this and how Germany, which has

opposed sending its long-range Taurus missiles

to Ukraine, would participate.

Defence ministers from the contact group are set to meet early next week at the Ramstein US Air Base in Germany.

Mr Macron reiterated his warning that it was not just Ukrainian but

European security at stake.

“We will do everything as necessary for as long as needed so that Russia cannot win this war,” Mr Macron said.

“This determination is steadfast and implies our unity.”

He added that the three leaders had agreed on the need to

reinforce support for Moldova,

which says Russia is trying to destabilise it through a “hybrid war”.

He said the three leaders had agreed to never initiate an escalation with Russia, a possible way to downplay

talk of sending Western ground troops to Ukraine,

which has irked Germany.

Scholz-Macron friction

The meeting of the so-called Weimar triangle – Germany, France and Poland – came after weeks of tensions, in particular between Mr Scholz and Mr Macron, that had alarmed officials in Kyiv and across the continent.

A hastily-arranged summit in Paris in February had aimed to give fresh impetus to stagnating Western efforts to help Ukraine repel a full-scale Russian invasion that has entered its third year.

Instead, Mr Macron’s refusal to rule out deploying Western troops to Ukraine

triggered a dressing down from Mr Scholz.

Mr Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Reuters that “indecision and uncoordinated action” among Kyiv’s allies was leading to “grave consequences”.

“Russia starts to get cocky and begins to believe that it can quantitatively squeeze Ukraine,” he said.

“Ukraine, in turn, is experiencing a severe shortage of specific resources, primarily shells, and is partially losing the initiative.”

Mr Tusk said the meeting on March 15 showed “that some malicious rumours that there are differences between European capitals are very exaggerated”.

Mr Tusk, who is seeking to revitalise the Weimar Triangle after eight years of nationalist rule in Warsaw, said Mr Macron and Mr Scholz had accepted his invitation to meet again in early summer to present their next joint plans. REUTERS