“EU is closer to using Russian asset profits for Ukraine arms”, the foreign (non-Russian) media reported Thursday based on the outcomes of the first day of the two-day EU summit. The European Union could use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine within a few months under a plan that includes buying arms for Kyiv, EU leaders said at the end of the first day of the gathering. They agreed at a summit in Brussels to go on with work on the plan, presented this week by the EU’s executive body, the European Commission.
That plan involves transferring 90% of profits from the frozen Russian assets to an EU-run fund used to finance arms for Kyiv. The remaining 10% would go to budget aid for Kyiv. It is assumed that the first 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) from the scheme could be disbursed as soon as July 1. The idea of using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to benefit Ukraine, if implemented, would, as Moscow says, be theft.
The question is: What will be Russia’s answer to it? There is now a feeling that the Russian side may soon come up with an alternative plan or present a different vision to the Western community of nations on the use of frozen Russian assets. It would seem what does that have to do with Kazakhstan? Let’s consider things in order.
Here is what this author in an article entitled “What Is Putin’s ultimate plan with regard to Kazakhstan?”, which appeared in the March 13, 2023 edition of the Eurasia Review, said: “Ukraine and Kazakhstan are the two most important post-Soviet countries for Moscow. Ukraine’s Donbas region is of particular importance to the Russian side. That’s pretty clear. In Kazakhstan, only its western region, Western Kazakhstan, can be compared with the Ukrainian Donbas in terms of economic prowess, mineral wealth, and geographical proximity to the Russian capital, Moscow. So it is understandable that the Russian side might also be willing to meddle in the internal affairs of the region that plays a key role in the economy of........© Eurasia Review