The EU has pledged 500 million euros more in military assistance to Kiev. The approval of a fifth tranche has taken the bloc’s overall military assistance to Kiev to €2.5 billion.
The European Union agreed Monday to allocate an additional 500 million euros in military aid to Ukraine. With the approval of the fifth assistance package, the bloc’s aid to Kiev has reached €2.5 billion ($2.5bn), the head of the European Council Charles Michel announced following a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
In his post on Twitter, Michel noted that the funds are being released in the framework of the European Peace Facility (EPF) – a financial mechanism created in 2021 to enhance the bloc’s ability to act as a global security provider. The EPF reimburses governments for military equipment supplied to Kiev, “including items designed to deliver lethal force for defensive purposes.”
“EU support in military equipment to Ukraine Armed Forces now at €2.5 billion. Europe stands with Ukraine,” Michel wrote.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry welcomed the announcement describing it as “an important step in strengthening European security.”
Ahead of Monday’s ministerial meeting, Bloomberg noted that the EPF has a ceiling of about €6 billion and is supposed to support not only Ukraine but also other countries. Over the summer the EU has to review how to continue supporting Kiev using this mechanism, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, Russia has consistently warned the EU, the US, the UK and their allies against providing Ukraine with weapons. It argues that they only prolong the conflict and create long-term issues.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier accused the EU of turning into “NATO’s economic relations department.” This followed a tweet by the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who claimed that “This war (in Ukraine) must be won on the battlefield.”
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked, RR reports.
The purpose of sanctions is to hurt the Russian economy, not to stop the fighting in Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said
The embargoes imposed by the European Union against Moscow are intended not to stop the fighting in Ukraine, but wreck the Russian economy, the bloc’s foreign policy commissioner Josep Borrell said in Brussels on Monday. Borrell also announced an EU ban on Russian gold exports later this week.
“The EU sanctions will not stop the military activities in Ukraine, but ought to create a lot of problems for the Russian economy,” Borrell said, adding that the EU “cannot afford sanctions fatigue.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin “counts on the fatigue of democracies with sanctions,” the EU high representative for foreign policy said. “It is not easy but we must continue to put pressure on the Russian economy. Our European societies must not abandon this policy,” he added.
Borrell’s comments echoed the argument he made in a blog post over the weekend, responding in part to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s statement that the embargo policy has been “miscalculated” and harmed the EU members more so than Moscow.
The Spanish diplomat also argued the embargoes were not to blame for the pain at the pump, saying the price of oil was the same now as it had been in February.
While Brussels is officially committed to supporting the Ukrainian government with a €9 billion ($9 billion) emergency loan, the Wall Street Journal reported no money had been paid out yet. Meanwhile, the fund to supply Kiev with weapons has been capped at €5.7 billion until 2027.