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The EU on Friday announced it was transferring about $1.6 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets to Ukraine for the purchase of weapons.

The step is the first time the EU has dipped into the frozen Russian assets to fund the proxy war and marks a significant escalation of the Western economic campaign against Moscow.

The transfer came after the EU agreed to provide Ukraine with about $3.2 billion per year using the profits made by the Russian assets. The EU has also agreed to a US-proposed plan to loan $50 billion to Ukraine and pay it back using frozen Russian funds, but it’s unclear when that will go through.

According to Euro News, 90% of the $1.6 billion will go toward weapons, and 10% will be spent on humanitarian aid. But the money is being wired directly into the Ukrainian government’s budget, and it’s unclear if there’s any real oversight.

Russia has vowed that it will respond to the EU or any Western country stealing its Central Bank assets. Western banks have warned against the plan to send Russian assets to Ukraine as they fear it will open them up to legal action if they’re involved in any of the transfers.

Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maliuska previously called the EU’s plan to provide the $3.2 billion each year “almost nothing” and demanded that Kyiv receive the approximately $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets that are held by Western countries.

Israel will be looking to retaliate, but it will want to avoid a major escalation, experts say.

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The Pentagon announced on Friday that it was providing Ukraine with a new weapons package worth $1.7 billion, which includes munitions for air defense systems, ammunition for HIMARS rocket systems, artillery shells, and other types of equipment.

The package includes $1.5 billion that’s being provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). The USAI allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine, which means it could take months or years before the equipment is delivered.

The other $200 million uses the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows President Biden to ship weapons to Ukraine directly from Pentagon stockpiles. The announcement came a few days after the Pentagon said it found an “accounting error” that overvalued previous weapons sent to Ukraine, freeing up another $2 billion to spend on the proxy war.

The new US military aid comes as Russian forces are making steady gains in the east and are closing in on the Donestk city of Pokrovsk.

According to the Pentagon, the new weapons package includes:

Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS)

Short- and medium-range air defense munitions

RIM-7 missiles for air defense

Electronic Warfare equipment

Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)

155mm and 105mm artillery rounds

120mm mortar rounds

Precision aerial munitions

Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles

Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems

Small arms

Explosives material and demolitions equipment and munitions

Secure communications systems

Commercial satellite imagery services

Spare parts, maintenance and sustainment support, and other ancillary equipment

The Pentagon also released a fact sheet on Monday that said the Biden administration has pledged more than $55.4 billion in military equipment for Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

Washington says military restructuring aimed at countering growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.