The European Union should consider using profits from frozen Russian assets to buy military supplies for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday (February 28).

"It is time to start a conversation about using the windfall profits of frozen Russian assets to jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine," she told the European Parliament in a speech urging the EU to do more on defence policy.

In her speech, von der Leyen previewed a new European Industrial Defence Strategy that her commission will present in the coming weeks, saying one of its main aims would be to prioritise joint procurement.

She said greater European efforts in defence would not diminish the need for the NATO alliance.

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