EU has not yet been able to agree on the amount of military aid to Ukraine for this year ahead of the summit - Reuters
Kyiv • UNN
EU member states have not reached an agreement on the proposal to determine a specific amount of military aid to Ukraine for 2024. The European Commission proposes to mobilize up to 800 billion euros for European defense.
EU members have not yet been able to agree on the proposal of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, to determine the figure for military aid they promise to Ukraine this year, Reuters reports, citing sources, as UNN writes.
Details
According to the publication, European leaders intend to approve bold measures to increase defense spending and promise support for Ukraine on Thursday "after the suspension of military aid to Ukraine by US President Donald Trump raised concerns that the continent can no longer be confident in US protection."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join the leaders of the 27 EU countries at the summit in Brussels, although, as the publication notes, "their show of solidarity may be overshadowed by Hungary's refusal to support a statement in support of Kyiv."
The European Commission - the executive body of the EU - has published proposals that, according to it, could mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($862.9 billion) for European defense, including a borrowing plan of up to 150 billion euros ($161.8 billion) to provide loans to EU governments.
Macron stated that France is open to discussing the expansion of the protection that its nuclear arsenal provides to its European partners.
On Tuesday, parties seeking to form the next German government agreed to relax the borrowing ceiling to allow billions of euros in additional defense spending.
Diplomats expect that leaders at the EU summit will broadly welcome the proposals and instruct officials to quickly turn them into legislation. Then EU members will have to agree on the details, which will not be easy, the publication notes.
Regarding Ukraine, almost all EU leaders seek to assure Zelensky that he can still rely on Europe's support after his harsh exchange in the Oval Office with Trump last week. But EU members have so far been unable to agree on the proposal of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, to determine the figure for military aid they promise to Ukraine this year
Officials reportedly proposed that the EU promise at least 20 billion euros this year, as it did in 2024.
The plan stipulates that each EU member state will contribute according to the size of its economy, amid complaints from the Nordic and Baltic countries and the Netherlands that some larger countries, such as France, Italy, and Spain, are not doing enough.
Paris, Rome, and Madrid reject these accusations, claiming that public assessments do not reflect the true value of their military assistance to Ukraine.
Leaders are expected to urge officials to "quickly advance work on initiatives, including those of the High Representative (Borrell), to coordinate the strengthening of EU military support for Ukraine," according to a draft text seen by Reuters.
"However, it is unclear whether the text regarding Ukraine will be approved by all 27 leaders due to the threat of a veto from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally who also maintains friendly ties with the Kremlin," the publication notes.