Finland to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to supply ammunition to Ukraine

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — 155mm artillery rounds are seen at Marine Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Feb. 29, 2024. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Frank Sepulveda Torres via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

By Essi Lehto

HELSINKI (Reuters) -Finland will supply 90 million euros ($101.35 million) of ammunition to Ukraine by using proceeds from Russian financial assets frozen by the European Union after Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022, the Finnish defence ministry said on Monday.

The EU has estimated that 210 billion euros of the roughly $300 billion worth of frozen Russian assets are held in the 27-nation bloc, mainly in the form of government bonds that Russia's central bank had stored as reserves.

The European Commission decided last year that proceeds from the assets could be used to support Kyiv's military through an EU-run fund.

"We were able to negotiate additional funding for Finland's support for Ukraine," Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said. "The products are purchased from Finnish industry to boost employment at home and sent to Ukraine to help its  defence. I am very pleased with the outcome."

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has repeatedly said that any move to seize or sell off frozen Russian assets would be illegal; contravene property rights; set a dangerous precedent, and would be challenged in court.

($1 = 0.8901 euros)

($1 = 0.8880 euros)

 (Reporting by Essi Lehto, Louise Rasmussen and Andrew Gray, editing by Stine Jacobsen, Gareth Jones and Sharon Singleton)