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Polish FM: Use frozen Russian funds, not EU money, for US Ukraine arms

16.07.2025 11:00
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said that Russia’s frozen assets, not European taxpayers, should cover the cost of US weapons announced for Ukraine by President Donald Trump.
Audio
Polands top diplomat Radosław Sikorski chats with Luxembourgs Xavier Bettel at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
Poland’s top diplomat Radosław Sikorski chats with Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.Photo: EPA/OLIVIER MATTHYS

Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, Sikorski said he had asked his colleagues who should pay for the arms after Trump pledged to supply them.

“Better the aggressor pays from its frozen funds,” he said.

Trump announced on Monday that Washington would produce weapons for Kyiv and, without a Russia‑Ukraine peace deal within 50 days, impose heavy tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners.

“We hope those 50 days are used to increase pressure on the Russian Federation,” Sikorski told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday, arguing the EU had long concluded that President Vladimir Putin “does not want peace” and responds only to force.

EU top diplomats discussed the bloc’s planned 18th sanctions package against Russia, hybrid threats and further support for Ukraine when they met in the Belgian capital on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

(jh/gs)

Source: PAP

Click on the audio player above for a report by Marcin Matuszewski.