🔗 Share this article

The UK is set to progress with employing the full worth of seized Russian funds to aid Ukraine's war effort, PM Sir Keir Starmer has announced.

In a collective announcement, the officials of the UK, the French Republic, and Germany stated that this unified step would increase strain on Russia's leader Vladimir Putin and urge Moscow to participate in talks.

They further noted that the move would be executed in tight collaboration with the US.

British penalties have blocked in excess of £25bn of Russian funds since Moscow began its comprehensive attack against Ukraine in 2022. But, until now, resources provided to the Ukrainian government using Russia's funds had exclusively been drawn from earnings and returns earned on them.

Sir Keir told Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky that the Britain, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany were aligned in their goal to push forward toward utilizing the full value of the immobilized Russia's state holdings to end the war.

He stated that additional restrictions soon would increase the strain on the Russian government.

This announcement comes after European Union leaders convened in Copenhagen previously to discuss using frozen Russia's assets for a 140-billion-euro loan to Ukraine.

Last month, US President Donald Trump urged Group of Seven partners to take or utilize seized Russian assets, as reported by news outlets.

The total of frozen Russia's funds in the Europe is assessed to be almost €211bn.

Leader Zelensky urges UK's Sir Keir Starmer to participate in the weapons procurement program

The Russian government executed extensive missile and drone strikes across Ukraine on recently, causing blackouts in significant regions of the capital city, the city, and eight other regions.

Several persons were lost their lives and no fewer than 20 people were wounded in the attack, authorities in Ukraine said.

In a update on an online platform subsequent to the attack, Zelensky wrote that the cynical and calculated attack focused on civilian and energy infrastructure.

"What's needed is not mere statements but decisive action - from the America, Europe, and the seven nations - in delivering air defence systems and enforcing penalties," he stated.

"Each restrictive measure weakens the Russian war effort," Zelensky noted, in a separate post.

In the same period, Zelensky stated to the press he would encourage Sir Keir to participate in the PURL programme, under which Nato countries purchase weapons from the US to donate to Ukraine.

While praising the United Kingdom's firm backing for Kyiv, he remarked it should indicate firmly that it would engage in the initiative, as well as apply more restrictions on Russia.

Significant Attacks Cause Outages in Kyiv and Nationwide

• War in Ukraine
• French Republic
• Germany
• Russia
• Ukraine