EU to take up the baton of support for Ukraine after massive US aid

The approval of more than $60 billion in aid by the US House of Representatives provides a lifeline for Ukraine. Europe is preparing to make its contribution.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

For Europe, which has provided €150 billion in aid, the next step will be to meet the requirements for strengthening air defense and developing solutions for the use of frozen Russian assets.

Europe is “close to a political agreement’’ on the use of a windfall tax on those assets, with the first collection seen by July 1, Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem said.

The bloc's foreign ministers will discuss Ukraine at a meeting on April 22. The ministers will be joined by their counterparts from the defense ministries at the talks, as well as the Ukrainian foreign and defense ministers.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg call on European countries to step up efforts to supply Ukraine with weapons, especially air defense equipment.

After a videoconference between NATO defense ministers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 19, Stoltenberg said he expected similar statements in the near future.

"NATO has outlined the existing capabilities of the alliance, and there are systems that can be provided to Ukraine. In addition to Patriot allies, other weapons can be provided, including SAMP/T," he said.

So far, Germany is the only EU member that has said it will send an additional Patriot system in response to Ukraine's recent calls.

As a reminder, the US House of Representatives recently voted in favor of aid to Ukraine. The bill provides for $60.84 billion, part of which will be spent to replenish the US reserves.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 22/04/2024