By BRUSSELS. Jan 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Belgium has pledged to provide military assistance to Ukraine worth EUR 611 million obtained from revenues from frozen Russian assets, Belgian media outlets said with reference to the Belgian Defense Ministry on Tuesday.
According to the press, Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder promised this aid in a telephone call with her Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov on Tuesday.
“In response to a request on Tuesday, the office of Ms. Dedonder confirmed the amount of EUR 611 million, clarifying that it will be revenues obtained from Russian assets frozen in Belgium,” the La Libre Belgique newspaper said.
Thus, the Belgian minister officially named this amount to the Ukrainian side for the first time, the newspaper said.
Umerov also confirmed on social media that he had had a telephone call with Dedonder about military assistance. In addition, the ministers discussed Belgium’s involvement in the training of Ukrainian military pilots.
The European Union continues discussing the use of Russian assets frozen in the EU to aid Kyiv and restore Ukraine, media reported.
The bulk of frozen Russian assets are deposited with Euroclear, an international depository based in Belgium. According to media outlets, the sum in question is EUR 180 billion from which Euroclear made “record profits.”
