Finland using seized Russian assets to arm Ukraine defence forces
Finland has sent a warning shot to Russian oligarchs as it ramps up its support of Ukraine in the now three-year-long war.
Finland has stood firm supporting the embattled nation since Vladimir Putin's invasion and has linked arms with several other EU members and Western allies in supplying aid.
The nation joined NATO in 2023 and signed a bilateral defence pact with Ukraine to expand cooperation on intelligence, armaments, and training, providing a whopping $5.79 billion in support.
But now, the funding for arms is coming from a place that hits Putin where it hurts.
The Finnish government has now announced it will send €90 million (A$101 million) worth of ammunition to Ukraine, drawing directly from proceeds generated by Russian financial assets frozen by the European Union.
The Finnish defence ministry confirmed the move on Monday.
The European Union is currently holding an estimated $210 billion of the roughly $300 billion in Russian assets frozen across the bloc. Much of this is tied up in government bonds and reserves once held by Russia's central bank.
In a shift last year, the European Commission approved using profits earned from these assets to bolster Kyiv's military through an EU-administered fund.
'We were able to negotiate additional funding for Finland's support for Ukraine,' said Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen. '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 has yet to respond to the announcement, though it has consistently condemned similar gestures as violations of property rights and international law.
Calls for Russian money to rebuild Ukraine
Last year, a group of former politicians, academics, ambassadors and doctors called on the Australian federal government to redirect $9bn of frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine.
Russian oligarchs' 'dirty money' being held in Australia should also pursued, 26 signatories said in the letter.
Signatories included former Prime Minister John Howard, former Russian ambassador Robert Tyson, former Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, various academics, a reverend and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
While Australia has no legal mechanism for seizing frozen assets, the signatories say Canada, Belgium and the EU have found artful ways to redirect those frozen assets.
The signatories say in the letter, addressed to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the Russian central bank has about USD$300bn of frozen assets in the West, including about AUD$9bn in Australia.
The signatories want the Russian assets diverted to rebuilding Ukraine, a confirmation of how much and what type of assets are being held in Australia, and legislative change 'to ensure that Russian assets held here can be utilised to support Ukraine'.
'We make this plea because Australia can punch well above its weight at no cost to the Australian taxpayer,' they said in the letter.
'Nine billion dollars … would effectively fund the reconstruction of half of Ukraine's educational infrastructure.'
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said Australia had sanctioned 1200 people and entities in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and cut trade with Russia to 'negligible' levels.
'Australia's goal is to empower Ukraine to end the war on its terms. We will continue to provide targeted assistance to Ukraine to impose costs on Russia,' the spokesperson said.
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"The Russian side has informed us that this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, it can return 500 people," he said. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has previously said the next exchange would focus on swapping the severely wounded and the young, as well as the bodies of dead soldiers. Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Wednesday he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC during his visit there. "We discussed the situation at the frontline and the need to strengthen support for Ukraine in the area of air defence," he wrote on social media. with AP A Russian drone attack has killed the family of the local fire chief in Ukraine's northern town of Pryluky in Chernihiv region, Ukraine's interior minister says. Minister Ihor Klymenko said the attack killed the fire chief's wife, daughter and one-year-old grandson. "On this terrible night, the rescuer was on site with the fire and rescue team to deal with the aftermath of the enemy strikes," he wrote on Telegram, expressing his condolences. The family was among five people killed when Russia launched six drones to attack the town, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said. Six more people were taken to hospital, he added. The attack came just hours after Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, Putin said "very strongly" that Russia will retaliate for Ukraine's weekend stunning drone attacks on Russian military airfields. Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed implementing a ceasefire until a meeting can be arranged with Putin. "My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we agree a ceasefire with the Russians until the leaders meet," Zelenskiy told a briefing in Kyiv. "At this time, people will understand that the nations, Europe, Ukraine and the whole world have a chance to end the war," he said, adding that monitoring of the ceasefire could be discussed at the meeting. Zelenskiy said Ukraine would "be grateful" for support for the idea from the US president. After Ukraine bombed bridges and attacked Russia's fleet of nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia and Russia's far north, Putin on Wednesday said he did not think Ukraine's leaders wanted peace. Shortly after Putin discussed the attacks with top ministers in Moscow, Trump said he had spoken by telephone with Putin for one hour and 15 minutes, and that they had discussed the Ukrainian attacks and Iran. "We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace," Trump said on social media. Russia has resisted calls from Ukraine and its allies for a ceasefire, saying that certain conditions must first be met. On Wednesday Putin repeated Russia's stance that any ceasefire would simply be used by Ukraine to acquire more foreign weapons. Putin said the attacks on the bridge in Bryansk and another one in Kursk had been directed clearly against the civilian population and that the attacks were evidence that the Ukrainian government "was degenerating into a terrorist organisation, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices of terrorists". "The current Kyiv regime does not need peace at all," Putin said at a televised meeting with senior officials. "What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?" Zelenskiy said President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which hosted peace talks on Monday, had expressed support for a top-level meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, the US and Turkey. The June 2 talks in Istanbul made little progress towards ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine although the sides exchanged proposals as well as a plan for another major swap of prisoners of war. Zelenskiy said the POW exchange would begin over the weekend. "The Russian side has informed us that this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, it can return 500 people," he said. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has previously said the next exchange would focus on swapping the severely wounded and the young, as well as the bodies of dead soldiers. Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Wednesday he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC during his visit there. "We discussed the situation at the frontline and the need to strengthen support for Ukraine in the area of air defence," he wrote on social media. with AP A Russian drone attack has killed the family of the local fire chief in Ukraine's northern town of Pryluky in Chernihiv region, Ukraine's interior minister says. Minister Ihor Klymenko said the attack killed the fire chief's wife, daughter and one-year-old grandson. "On this terrible night, the rescuer was on site with the fire and rescue team to deal with the aftermath of the enemy strikes," he wrote on Telegram, expressing his condolences. The family was among five people killed when Russia launched six drones to attack the town, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said. Six more people were taken to hospital, he added. The attack came just hours after Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, Putin said "very strongly" that Russia will retaliate for Ukraine's weekend stunning drone attacks on Russian military airfields. Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed implementing a ceasefire until a meeting can be arranged with Putin. "My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we agree a ceasefire with the Russians until the leaders meet," Zelenskiy told a briefing in Kyiv. "At this time, people will understand that the nations, Europe, Ukraine and the whole world have a chance to end the war," he said, adding that monitoring of the ceasefire could be discussed at the meeting. Zelenskiy said Ukraine would "be grateful" for support for the idea from the US president. After Ukraine bombed bridges and attacked Russia's fleet of nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia and Russia's far north, Putin on Wednesday said he did not think Ukraine's leaders wanted peace. Shortly after Putin discussed the attacks with top ministers in Moscow, Trump said he had spoken by telephone with Putin for one hour and 15 minutes, and that they had discussed the Ukrainian attacks and Iran. "We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace," Trump said on social media. Russia has resisted calls from Ukraine and its allies for a ceasefire, saying that certain conditions must first be met. On Wednesday Putin repeated Russia's stance that any ceasefire would simply be used by Ukraine to acquire more foreign weapons. Putin said the attacks on the bridge in Bryansk and another one in Kursk had been directed clearly against the civilian population and that the attacks were evidence that the Ukrainian government "was degenerating into a terrorist organisation, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices of terrorists". "The current Kyiv regime does not need peace at all," Putin said at a televised meeting with senior officials. "What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?" Zelenskiy said President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which hosted peace talks on Monday, had expressed support for a top-level meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, the US and Turkey. The June 2 talks in Istanbul made little progress towards ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine although the sides exchanged proposals as well as a plan for another major swap of prisoners of war. Zelenskiy said the POW exchange would begin over the weekend. "The Russian side has informed us that this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, it can return 500 people," he said. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has previously said the next exchange would focus on swapping the severely wounded and the young, as well as the bodies of dead soldiers. Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Wednesday he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC during his visit there. "We discussed the situation at the frontline and the need to strengthen support for Ukraine in the area of air defence," he wrote on social media. with AP
