EU Agrees £420m Military Aid For Ukraine As A Ban On Russian Gold Exports Sought

European Union foreign ministers have approved a £424m military aid package for Ukraine as they begin talks on banning Russia’s gold exports and adding more Kremlin-linked oligarchs to the sanctions list.

- Kim Sengupta

The agreement was struck yesterday and comes amid concern that international financial penalties imposed after the Ukraine invasion have failed to prevent Vladimir Putin adding £82bn to his war chest in the first 100 days of the conflict.

The huge injection of money came from sales of energy products, with Moscow taking advantage of a spike in prices and selling heavily-discounted oil to major purchasers such as China and India. Gold is Russia’s second-largest export after oil and gas and has been used by Moscow to back up its currency and circumvent sanctions already imposed by the West and a number of other states.

On restrictive measures, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that “at the moment the most important thing is a ban on Russian gold”. He also spoke of the urgent need to secure the port city of Odesa to ensure that blocked grain shipments are freed, stressing: “It’s an issue of life and death for many human beings. And the question is that Russia has to de-block and allow Ukrainian grain to be exported.”