The European Union's plan to spend up to EUR 20 billion on military aid to Ukraine has met resistance from some EU countries and may not be implemented in its current form. This was reported by the Reuters agency with reference to diplomatic sources.
In July, the head of the EU's foreign policy department, Josep Borrell, proposed to create a special fund to support the Ukrainian army for the next four years in the amount of up to EUR 20 billion. According to the proposal, the future fund should compensate member states for the costs of purchasing and transferring ammunition, missiles and tanks to Ukraine, as well as finance the training of Ukrainian military personnel.
Although the European Union already provides similar aid to Ukraine through the European Peace Fund, it is carried out through tranches that can be blocked by individual member states. In addition, the volume of the fund is quickly exhausted, and only recently it had to be increased.
EU defense ministers are preparing to discuss the plan in Brussels on Tuesday. However, diplomats say many countries - including EU heavyweight Germany - have expressed reservations about committing such large sums several years in advance.
"I'm not going to declare the idea dead just yet. But of course, improvements can always be made. Germany had a lot of questions ... and rightly so. We're talking about big money," said an EU diplomat on Friday, who embraces high position, on the condition of anonymity.
The governments of the EU countries emphasize that the long-term military assistance of the European Union must be coordinated with the security packages that individual member states are negotiating with Kyiv. This makes it difficult to agree on the amount of aid while negotiations are ongoing. At an EU summit last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the focus should be on such bilateral packages for now.
Some EU members also argue that it will be difficult for them to take on large long-term commitments due to limited domestic budgets.
"For some member states, there is a reality of public finances," said another EU diplomat.
A third EU diplomat said the likelihood that Borrell's initial proposal would be accepted is diminishing, but many countries still want commitments at the EU level.
The three diplomats suggested that the EU might choose to meet its commitments annually rather than agreeing to a plan for a larger sum spread over four years.
The debate over military aid comes at a time when EU countries are also debating a proposal to provide Ukraine with EUR 50 billion in economic aid.
The EU also faces problems with other aspects of its military aid to Ukraine. Many officials and diplomats say that the European Union will try to meet the goal of supplying Kyiv with 1 million artillery shells and missiles by March next year.
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