A new aid scheme for Kyiv from the European Union – the Ukraine Assistance Fund – with a budget of up to 5 billion euros per year for the next four years.
Last year, EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell proposed creating a new aid scheme for Kyiv within the European Peace Fund – the Ukraine Assistance Fund – with a budget of up to 5 billion euros per year over the next four years.
However, EU member states are locked in a debate over reform and future aid rules. On Wednesday, representatives of EU countries in Brussels finally reached an agreement. There will be a military assistance fund for Ukraine in the amount of 5 billion euros.
Long debate
France and Germany disagreed on the new rules for a long time: Paris insisted that the fund would only pay for jointly purchased equipment produced in EU countries, and Berlin demanded that the full cost of military aid of German in Ukraine will be deducted from its contribution to the fund, and not 40-50%.
Other EU members, especially the Baltic states and Poland, which recently bought a lot of equipment to move to Ukraine, want a relatively long transition period before the fund stops paying these donations and starts focusing only on joint purchases.
Reports emerged on Tuesday that the two sides had reached a compromise that allows some flexibility in terms of arms acquisition and takes into account the individual aid of individual countries, while preventing them from counting the entire value of donated equipment when calculating their payments to the fund.
“EU ambassadors reached agreement in principle on reforming the European Peace Fund to support Ukraine with a budget of 5 billion euros for 2024,” the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council said in a statement.
They added that the European Union remains determined to provide long-term support to Ukraine and “ensure that it receives the military equipment it needs to defend itself.”
The agreement was welcomed by EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell
As reported by the Financial Times, the decision was agreed through a compromise that priority will be given to weapons produced in the EU, with the possibility of buying them from third countries in extreme cases.
Other help
On Tuesday it also became known that Denmark will provide a new aid package to Ukraine: it will send Kyiv shells and artillery systems worth $336 million.
At the same time, US authorities announced that they will soon send Ukraine a new military aid package worth $300 million, which includes ammunition, weapons and equipment.
However, US President Joe Biden said this was not enough to support Kyiv, and again called on Congress to approve a full aid appropriations bill as soon as possible.
The package announced by Washington on Tuesday is the first tranche of US aid to Ukraine this year. The last time Kyiv received American aid was on December 27 last year.
Confiscation
The EU and US also made progress on the issue of confiscating $285 billion of Russian savings frozen in the West. The situation is unprecedented. They have never tried to take so much money from a nuclear power and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The voices of confiscation supporters are getting louder. Scenarios for the seizure of assets are also on the rise, a large part of which the Kremlin transferred from the United States to Europe before the war in the hope that the EU will not destroy relations with Russia for the sake of of Ukraine.
The United States, Europe and allies wanted to reach an agreement on confiscation at the February G7 meeting, but it did not go through. The next deadline is a summit of leaders of developed democratic countries in Italy in mid-June.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.