The EU's €20 billion long-term aid plan for Ukraine may not be adopted in its current form due to objections from some countries, including Germany.
Source. This was reported by Reuters with reference to diplomats.
The European Union's plan to allocate up to 20 billion euros for military aid to Ukraine has met with resistance from some EU states and may be rejected in its current form, Reuters reported on Friday, November 10, citing EU diplomatic circles.
In July, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell proposed to create a military assistance fund for Kyiv for 2024-2027 with an annual volume of 5 billion euros to support Ukraine in the war with Russia.
This plan is to be discussed in Brussels on November 14 at a meeting of EU defense ministers, but according to Reuters sources, many countries, including Germany, have questioned the feasibility of allocating such large sums for several years in advance.
Since Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the EU has provided Kyiv with weapons and equipment worth about 25 billion euros, making it one of the largest donors of military aid.
Borel's proposal is an attempt to put the support on a more long-term basis by creating a financial reserve to help Ukraine under a larger fund, the European Peace Fund, which aims to reimburse EU countries for military aid to other countries.
"I am not going to declare this plan a failure yet. But it can be improved," a senior EU diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. – "Germany has a lot of questions, and rightly so. After all, we are talking about a lot of money."
Some EU states are not ready to make such long-term commitments due to shrinking domestic budgets. Diplomatic sources suggest that the EU may decide to allocate funds to Ukraine for one year in advance.
Background. The day before, the media reported that the EU would not be able to deliver the promised 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by March 2024.