EU wants to create new aid fund for Ukraine

According to RIA Novosti on February 18, Poland's Money newspaper reported that the European Union wants to establish a new fund to provide military aid to Ukraine.

“The European Union is making another attempt to secure funding for military aid to Ukraine. On February 18, ambassadors from member states will begin discussions on a new fund that is expected to provide assistance until 2025,” the source said.

It is worth noting that the main goal of the creation of this fund is to "meet Ukraine's most urgent defense needs, such as artillery shells, air defense systems and support for the Ukrainian defense industry."

According to the publication, the fund will be filled from two sources: contributions from member states, proportional to their national income, i.e. calculated on the same principle as contributions to the EU budget, along with profits from frozen Russian assets.

“It is estimated that this year the profits could reach 900 million euros, helping to ease the financial burden on EU member states,” the report said.

The new initiative offers a “flexible approach to spending money” aimed at “respecting the status of some EU countries, such as those that remain neutral in military matters”.

Priority areas of the fund's activities include the supply of large-caliber artillery shells (at least 1.5 million shells), the supply of long-range air defense and missile systems, as well as training and equipping the Ukrainian army.

In addition, participation in this initiative must be voluntary, as previous experience shows that otherwise some EU countries, such as Hungary, may veto the initiative.

Earlier, on February 17, an emergency summit of European leaders on the Ukraine issue was held in Paris. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters after the event that the conference did not make any decisions on Ukraine.

The Polish Prime Minister noted that those present agreed only on the need for close cooperation in resolving the Ukrainian issue.