Prime Minister of Belgium, which holds the EU Council presidency, Alexander De Kroo, said on Thursday that he was confident that the leaders of the 27 EU member states could reach an agreement on financial assistance to Ukraine. He said this when he arrived at the EU summit on February 1, UNN reports.
Today is an extraordinary Council (of the EU), a very important one, which really has one main theme - and the theme is how we can continue to support Ukraine, how we can enable Ukraine to continue to buy the defense equipment that it needs, how we can support Ukraine in paying, for example, teachers' salaries. That is why it is very important that we reach an agreement today, an agreement of 27 countries. At the last EU Council, an agreement was reached among the 26, and this agreement is still in place, the 26 are very clear about what is on the table... I am confident in our ability to reach a compromise with 27 countries
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, according to Reuters, also said that he was "cautiously optimistic" about reaching an agreement "if Hungary is willing to compromise.
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The summit, convened to address the EU's multiannual budget, is seen as the last opportunity to reach an agreement on a four-year, €50 billion economic assistance plan for Ukraine. However, the plan has met with resistance from Hungary.