EU Council to provide €500 million worth of arms to Ukraine
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The EU has, so far, provided a €1 billion package in arms for Ukraine.
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Military assistance being shipped from Lithuania to Boryspil Airport, Kiev, on February 13, 2022. (AFP)
President of the European Council Charles Michel backed on Thursday a proposal to sell €500 million ($542 million) worth of arms to Ukraine. The proposal was backed by 27 EU nations at the ambassador level.
He tweeted, "Once swiftly approved this will bring to €1.5 billion the EU support already provided for military equipment for #Ukraine," thanking EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell for proposing more funds for Ukraine.
Thanks and support to @JosepBorrellF for your proposal to top up the #EuropeanPeaceFacility with a further €500M. Once swiftly approved this will bring to 1.5 billion the EU support already provided for military equipment for #Ukraine. @ZelenskyyUa
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) April 7, 2022
The EU has, so far, provided a €1 billion package in arms for Ukraine.
"This may seem like a lot, but €1 billion is what we pay Putin every day for the energy he provides us," Borrell said on Wednesday.
The European peace fund has set up €5 billion, from member states, from which it is sending aid to Kiev.
Read more: White House: $6.9 billion to help Ukraine, support NATO members
'My agenda is very simple: Weapons, weapons, weapons'
On Thursday at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said "My agenda is very simple. It has only three items on it. Its weapons, weapons, and weapons," he said from Brussels, NATO's headquarters.
"Either you help us now -- and I'm speaking about days, not weeks, or your help will come too late, and many people will die, many civilians will lose their homes, many villages will be destroyed. Exactly because this help came too late," Kuleba said after the meeting.
Kuleba, while asking for help, did not shy away from criticizing Germany and other allies that were "reluctant" to send offensive arms to Kiev, saying Berlin "[could] do more," although Europe's biggest economy has been providing arms to Ukraine for a while now, sending 2,000 anti-tank weapons to the country just this late March.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he was certain that allies would "address the need for more air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, lighter, but also heavier weapons, and many different types of support to Ukraine."
The West as a whole, and the US specifically, have been providing arms to Ukraine even before the war started. The Pentagon announced Friday it was giving out a package of arms worth some $300 million to Ukraine. The defense body detailed that the package would include military equipment ranging from laser-guided rocket systems to armored Humvees and drones.
