Borrell admitted it would be difficult for the EU to release the €50bn promised to Kiev without the US

European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell has admitted in an interview with France’s Sud-Ouest that it will be difficult for the EU to allocate the €50bn previously promised to Kiev without US help.

“If this becomes a reality, the situation will be extremely difficult. It is hard to imagine that we will shell out €50bn. It will certainly be possible if there is political will to do so, but the EU will have to be much more resourceful,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

According to Borrell, on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided to issue joint debt to buy time, but now the union is far from consensus on this.

The EC has previously approved the idea of using proceeds from Russia’s assets to support Kiev.

The Kremlin said that the idea of the EU using 90 per cent of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces leads to the destruction of international law.