He also urged EU member states to bolster air policing, support the Baltic Sentry initiative, and reinforce the bloc’s borders with Russia.
Additionally, he advocated for the adoption of new fiscal rules within the EU to fund common security and defence priorities.
"Enough talking, it’s time to act!" Tusk said in an X post. "1. Let’s finance our aid for Ukraine from the Russian frozen assets. 2. Let’s strengthen air policing, the Baltic sentry and the EU borders with Russia. 3. Let’s swiftly adopt new fiscal rules to finance the EU security and defence. Now!"
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries froze around EUR 300 billion worth of Moscow's foreign exchange reserves, with about EUR 200 billion held within the EU, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
According to Poland's minister for European affairs, Adam Szłapka, Ukraine is set to receive a second tranche of revenue from frozen Russian assets in April, amounting to EUR 1.9 billion.
Szłapka made the announcement earlier this month during a European Parliament session in Strasbourg, speaking on behalf of the Council of the EU under Poland's presidency, the PAP news agency reported.
European lawmakers in October backed plans to offer Ukraine a loan of up to EUR 35 billion to be repaid with future revenues from frozen Russian assets.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced last month that the Western military alliance would launch "Baltic Sentry," a new mission designed to strengthen the protection of critical undersea infrastructure.
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Source: IAR, PAP