The EU continues to increase aid for Ukraine to deal with the Russian invasion.
This Monday, the Foreign Ministers of the Twenty-seven have approved an increase of another 2,000 million euros in the main defense fund of the Union, the European Fund for Peace, from which they are extracting hundreds of millions to help Kiev with weapons.
While the fighting rages in eastern Ukraine and Moscow continues its attacks on the country's civil and energy infrastructure, where millions of people have serious problems with their electricity, heating and even water supply, the Union is maneuvering to increase pressure on the Kremlin and add dozens of new names of Russian individuals and entities to the sanctions list.
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The images of the 292 day of war in Ukraine
Several thermobaric rockets fall on Kamianka in Donetsk. Photo: Reuters |
Video: EPV
At the same time, Brussels is negotiating the introduction of restrictions on a good number of technological components that can serve as replacement parts for weapons, chemical products and new mining projects;
although they have not yet reached an agreement on what the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called "technical points".
All to try to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from continuing to feed his defense industry with dual-use parts, and also to strangle the economy with which he sustains the war.
Meanwhile, this Monday the Twenty-seven have already approved a package of sanctions against Iran for supplying drones to Moscow that the Kremlin troops use in their war in Ukraine.
The new €2 billion for the European Peace Fund (EPF) is on top of the current €5 billion with which the extra-budgetary fund covers member states' arms donations provided to Ukraine.
Of those 5,000 million euros, almost half have already been committed.
The new disbursement of the fund, which could increase another 3,500 by 2027 and add other projects, comes when some member states have shown some concern about how and when they will be paid what they have already donated weapons to Kiev.
The European Fund for Peace was established last year to help the EU finance military assistance to its international partners, but it was based primarily on defense equipment.
With the invasion in February, the Union broke down one of its biggest taboos, that of not paying for arms deliveries, and began using the fund to compensate countries for their arms donations.
Ukraine, which is waiting for the cold to settle the ground in the east and south to resume a counteroffensive like the one that led it to conquer Kherson, continues to demand cutting-edge weapons, as well as an aid package to repair infrastructure and also humanitarian material to help citizens get through the harsh winter.
The United States has promised 38,000 million dollars (about 36,100 million euros) in military support and has already delivered 13,000 million in direct aid to Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, that he prioritized support in the form of air defenses.
Meanwhile, days after several attacks hit Russian territory, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday that he would have an "open mind" about supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles to target the sites. from where the drones that are attacking its infrastructure and civilian areas are launched.
Around 18 million people (40% of the population that remains in the country) depend on humanitarian aid in Ukraine, according to the United Nations;
another 7.8 million have left for other parts of Europe, where countries like Poland are now demanding more aid from the EU to care for refugees and a possible new wave as temperatures plummet below zero.
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