The EU has agreed to provide Ukraine with a seventh military aid package worth nearly $550 million, when the hostilities are at a critical stage.
“Today’s new measures send a clear message at a critical time that we will continue to assist Ukraine as long as necessary,” said Josep Borrell, Senior Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy European Union (EU), today said.
In addition to the $549 million military support package, the EU will also provide more than $49 million for the training efforts of the EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM Ukraine).
Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks to reporters in Brussels, Belgium December 2022. Photo: Reuters.
The announcement came while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in Kiev. Speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ms. von der Leyen said the bloc would apply a new package of sanctions against Russia on February 24, the one year anniversary of the outbreak of the largest armed conflict in Ukraine. Europe since World War II.
According to her, the oil price ceiling set by the EU and G7 partners costs Russia $175 million a day, and a ceiling price for Russian oil products is also being discussed.
“We are making Russian President Vladimir Putin pay for this war,” she said. “Russia is paying a heavy price as our sanctions erode its economy. We will continue to increase the pressure further.”
The European Commission President also said that an international center to prosecute war criminals in Ukraine would be established in The Hague, Netherlands.
Speaking at a press conference, Zelensky called on the EU to quickly strengthen sanctions against Russia. “We can see that the pace of sanctions in Europe has slowed down a bit while, on the contrary, Russia is speeding up its adaptation to sanctions,” Zelensky said. “It is necessary to catch up and fix this. We believe it can be done.”
Huyen Le (Theo Reuters, AFP)