EU countries are preparing a military aid package worth at least €6 billion for Ukraine as it seeks to shore up Kyiv’s strategic position at the outset of U.S.-led talks with Russia, according to three EU diplomats.
The package, which should include everything from 1.5 million artillery shells to air defense systems, would mark one of the EU’s largest military aid packages since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and could be unveiled ahead of a highly symbolic visit by European commissioners to Kyiv on Feb. 24.
Two of the diplomats said the €6 billion was a starting point which could increase to €10 billion or more as countries dig into their inventories to see what they can send to Ukraine. EU foreign ministers are expected to examine the package, whose contents were first reported by POLITICO on Monday, during a regular gathering in Brussels next week.
Countries will be able to contribute military kit or cash. Their financial contribution will be proportionate to their gross national income, one of the diplomats said.
A major military aid package would provide a tangible display of the EU’s resolve to back Ukraine after an emergency gathering of leaders in Paris on Monday failed to deliver concrete decisions. The EU has been sidelined from talks between the United States and Russia to end the war, causing consternation in EU capitals as well as in Kyiv.
A boost in military support could help Ukraine replenish its armed forces, hold back Russian attacks on the front line and protect its cities from aerial assault as Kyiv gears up for peace talks. It may also bolster the EU’s argument to be included in the talks, the first round of which between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concluded on Tuesday in Riyadh.
EU diplomats are still hashing out details of the aid package, which was requested by the European External Action Service, the bloc’s foreign affairs arm. It remains to be seen whether the EU as a whole would approve it or whether the deal would be backed by a coalition of willing countries. One of the diplomats said that unanimous approval was unlikely, given opposition from Hungary.
The EEAS request, first reported by POLITICO’s Morning Defense, includes plans to send 1.5 million artillery shells, air defense systems and equipment to Ukrainian brigades.
Nette Nöstlinger and Hans von der Burchard contributed to this report from Berlin.
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