Germany and France want the major Western industrial countries to provide billions more in aid to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a Franco-German government meeting today near Berlin, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The possibility of using interest income from the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank is being considered, Scholz said at the Meseberg Palace.
"We want to give Ukraine access to additional funding worth billions so that it can reliably secure its defense and thus further increase the security of the whole of Europe," the German chancellor said, adding that the aim was to unite and strengthen the efforts of the G-7 countries and the European Union.
Scholz's comments come amid talks between the finance ministers of the major Western G7 countries at the end of last week, where they discussed ways to use those interest rates, but failed to reach an agreement.
Washington recently proposed that the G-7 countries provide Ukraine with a loan of up to 50 billion dollars, to be secured by interest income from the frozen funds of the Russian Central Bank.
EU countries reacted cautiously as the US proposal also included future interest income that may not be available depending on the further level of interest rates and how the war in Ukraine continues.
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Brussels has decided to direct 90% of the already accumulated usable interest income to an EU fund to finance military equipment and training, and the remaining 10% to be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine's infrastructure.