President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine hopes that that billions of dollars that have been earmarked for the war effort will materialize. Some of the funds in question are to be financed from the proceeds of frozen Russian state assets. There have been many political declarations from Kiev’s partners and many more are to be expected, Zelensky said in his evening video address on Wednesday. “But we need a real mechanism,” he insisted. Ukraine needs the proceeds from the frozen Russian assets for its defence against Russia, the aggressor in the more than two-year-old armed conflict. “The r…