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https://nordictimes.com/world/eu-plans-to-hand-over-seized-russian-assets-to-ukraine/

World

EU plans to hand over seized Russian assets to Ukraine

The war in Ukraine

Published 14 March 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelenskyj during a meeting in December 2023.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The European Commission plans to hand over up to €3 billion from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to Kiev as soon as possible, according to the Financial Times.

However, several EU countries are sceptical of such a decision, arguing that it risks damaging economic stability and confidence in the euro as a reserve currency.

The plan is to seize revenues from Russian assets held in Euroclear, the Financial Times reports.

The first payment, the EU hopes, could be made as early as July this year, provided all the bloc’s member states agree to the proposal. EU officials estimate that total profits from these assets could reach up to €20 billion by 2027.

While the US and the UK support an outright seizure of the assets, some EU countries, including France and Germany, have recently warned that the measure could have a negative impact on financial stability and undermine confidence in the euro’s status as a reserve currency.

Commission disagrees

The EU’s attempt to channel Russian assets into Ukraine comes as US President Joe Biden and the Democrats’ latest $60 billion aid package for the country is currently being blocked by the Republican-led Congress.

As a result, Ukraine has been looking for alternative sources of finance to continue funding its military and prolong the war.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested early on that Russian money could be used to supply Ukraine with weapons, a measure that has been hotly debated within the EU.

However, a number of member states have expressed concerns about the potential consequences of using these funds for military purposes.

Ursula von der Leyen proposed early on to give the Russian money to Ukraine. Photo: Renew Europe/CC BY-ND 2.0

Russian countermeasures

Some EU officials have suggested that instead of buying weapons, some of the profits from frozen assets should be used to support Ukraine’s post-conflict reconstruction. However, this view does not currently have widespread support.

In response to the EU’s plans, Russia has threatened to respond with possible counter-measures if, in Moscow’s view, Russian assets held abroad are confiscated. Moscow has warned that it will respond in kind if the West carries out its threats.

The finance ministry warned last month that Western countries themselves still have assets in Russia that could be jeopardised if the frozen funds are used.

The EU is currently debating the legality and ethics of the process, and it is not yet clear when or if the proposal will be adopted.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/europe/hungary-wants-eu-sanctions-on-ukrainian-forced-conscription-officers/

Europe

Hungary wants EU sanctions on Ukrainian forced conscription officers

The war in Ukraine

Published 16 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Hungarian Foreign Minister demands that those responsible must be held accountable for the murder and brutal assault of people who refused to go to war.
1 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Following the Council of Europe report, the brutality surrounding forced recruitment patrols in Ukraine must be covered by EU human rights sanctions. This is the view of Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

Referring to the Council of Europe report titled Memorandum on human rights elements for peace in Ukraine, dated July 8, 2025 and signed by the EU Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, Szijjártó points out that conscription in Ukraine involves murder, torture, brutal assault and brutal treatment.

— It is a fact that people are dying in Ukraine because of the brutality of the conscription officers, because they don’t want to go to war.

— Where are the NGOs, where are the Soros organizations, where are the so-called independent journalists, where are the human rights organizations, why do they not speak out and say that this manhunt on the streets of Ukraine is unacceptable? asks Péter Szijjártó.

Szijjártó emphasizes that they view it as unacceptable and “shocking” that European politicians remain indifferent to the brutality and stresses that they demand the responsible recruiters be placed on the EU’s human rights sanctions list.

— This is a bare minimum that the EU must do in this issue, he emphasizes.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-urges-zelensky-to-attack-moscow/

World

Trump urges Zelensky to attack Moscow

The war in Ukraine

Published 16 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Donald Trump has secretly urged Ukraine to carry out attacks against the Russian major cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg – as a strategy to force Russia to the negotiating table, according to the Financial Times.

The conversation reportedly took place on July 4 between American and Ukrainian representatives, where Trump posed direct questions to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky:

– Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? . . . Can you hit St Petersburg too?

According to the newspaper’s sources, the plan is to make Russia “feel pain” in order to pressure a settlement. Trump has previously expressed frustration over the war’s duration and said:

– I’m disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago.

At the same time, it is reported that Zelensky has received a list of long-range weapons that Trump wants to deliver through intermediaries – to circumvent Congress’s ban on direct military aid.

Escalation in the war

The revelations come at a sensitive time. The Kremlin has repeatedly warned that Russia could strike against the West if its weapons are used against Russian territory.

President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia has the right to “use our weapons against military facilities in countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities”.

In November 2024, Russia tightened its nuclear doctrine, which now allows nuclear response if Russia is attacked with conventional weapons by “non-nuclear states supported by nuclear powers”.

So far, Ukraine has primarily used domestically produced long-range drones in its attacks inside Russia. Neither the White House nor the Ukrainian government has commented on the revelation.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/north-korea-declares-full-support-for-russia/

World

North Korea declares “full support” for Russia

The war in Ukraine

Published 14 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting in Wonsan, North Korea.
1 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

North Korea is providing its “unconditional support” to Russia in the war against Ukraine. This was declared during a meeting between Kim Jong-Un and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Wonsan on Saturday, according to North Korean state media.

Kim Jong-Un informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the country stands ready to provide strong assistance in the conflict against Ukraine during a meeting that took place on Saturday in the coastal town of Wonsan on North Korea’s east coast, a location that the country has recently attempted to market as a tourist destination.

According to the North Korean news agency KCNA, Kim Jong-Un told Lavrov that North Koreans have “expressed full sympathy and support for all the measures taken by the Russian government to remove the root cause of the Ukrainian conflict”.

The North Korean leader is also said to have expressed his “firm conviction that the Russian army and people” will triumph and “achieve the sacred cause of defending the country’s dignity and fundamental interests”, KCNA reports.

Before the meeting with Kim Jong-Un, Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Choe Son-Hui, earlier in the day.

Deepened military cooperation

Lavrov’s visit to North Korea marks increasingly extensive military and political ties between the two countries, which have accelerated in connection with the war in Ukraine.

Pyongyang has previously sent thousands of soldiers to the Russian border region of Kursk to participate in fighting against Ukrainian forces that occupied parts of the area.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/war-hawk-trump-will-send-record-amounts-of-weapons-to-ukraine/

World

War hawk: Trump will send “record amounts of weapons” to Ukraine

The war in Ukraine

Published 14 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
War hawk Lindsey Graham with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to the right in a meeting in Helsinki, Finland in August last year.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The US will send more weapons than ever to Ukraine. These are the tones being heard around the Trump administration as NATO chief Mark Rutte now visits Washington.

A large part of Trump’s voter base is generally considered to be voters who voted for him in hopes that he would reduce US involvement in foreign wars, partly because he promised during the campaign that he would end the war in 24 hours. However, these promises seem to be becoming increasingly distant for the American president.

On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington, and Rutte can be pleased that more weapons than ever are now heading to the war in Ukraine. This according to information from, among others, the neoconservative war hawk Lindsey Graham, Republican senator and close ally of the Trump administration.

– In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves, says Graham on CBS’s program “Face the Nation”.

European countries foot the bill

A central part of the escalation is that NATO countries, including Sweden, have pledged to increase their weapons purchases, which in practice are largely procured from the American military-industrial complex.

Graham believes that the US escalation of weapons deliveries to the war in Ukraine is part of a “massive effort” to force Russian President Vladimir Putin into peace negotiations. It should be added that Russia has in many different contexts over a long time emphasized that they have been open to negotiations as well as being open about their peace conditions, which primarily revolve around guarantees of Ukraine’s neutrality.

Trump has signaled that he will make a “major statement” about Russia during the day.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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