Great Britain has rejected the European Union's request to pay 2 billion euros to participate in a large-scale EU defense fund, which is being created to strengthen Europe's military capabilities in the face of Russian aggression. This is stated in a Bloomberg article, writes UNN.
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According to sources, this decision was made after the EU raised the initial offer to 6.75 billion euros. The parties have not yet agreed on how much London should pay for access to the 150 billion euro fund. At the same time, Britain offered only a few hundred million euros, which differs from the EU's demands in billions.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is heading to the G20 summit in South Africa, emphasized: "I hope we can find an acceptable solution, but I firmly believe that these things are better done quietly, diplomatically, than exchanging views through the media."
Now the focus is on the leaders' meeting at the G20, where the UK and the EU will try to reach an agreement before the fund's application deadline – November 30.