Kuleba also thanked the Czech Republic for its initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine and appreciated the countries that have joined the initiative…reports Asian Lite News
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the decision of the European Union (EU) to allocate an additional 5 billion euros (about $5.44 billion) for military support to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
Speaking at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Kuleba said on Monday that the move to unlock the aid was an important step for Ukraine.
Kuleba also thanked the Czech Republic for its initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine and appreciated the countries that have joined the initiative.
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Earlier on Monday, the Council of the EU allocated 5 billion euros (about $5.44 billion) for Ukraine under the European Peace Facility (EPF). The funds are due to be used for providing Ukraine with lethal and non-lethal military equipment and training.
Between 2022 and 2024, the EU mobilised 6.1 billion euros (about $6.64 billion) for Ukraine under the EPF. Last month, the Czech Republic proposed to EU countries to jointly purchase 800,000 artillery shells and send them to Ukraine.
US help
Meanwhile, top Democratic lawmaker in the US House of Representatives has urged the chamber’s GOP members to pass a foreign aid package containing funding for Ukraine by the end of next week and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.
“The clock is ticking, and we have to get the bipartisan national security bill over the finish line before we leave town next Friday, March 22,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Wednesday during a press briefing on Capitol Hill.
“It’s reckless to do otherwise,” the New York Democrat said.
House Majority Leader Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, does not oppose more aid to Ukraine, but he has been blocking a vote on the $95 billion foreign aid package — of which some $60 billion will be offered to Ukraine — that recently passed in the Senate. His reasoning is that the bill lacks sufficient measures to strengthen security at the US southern border, Xinhua news agency reported.
While Jeffries has virtually no control over which particular piece of legislation gets a vote on the floor, pressure has been mounting on Johnson to bring the foreign aid bill up, with the White House saying it will surely gain enough votes to get passed if Johnson lifts his hold.
Jeffries in his remarks at the press briefing pointed to Polish President Andrzej Duda, who visited Washington and met with Jeffries and Johnson on Tuesday, saying the Polish leader “was so strongly supportive of making sure we continue to support the Ukrainian effort.”
After meeting with Duda, Johnson in a post on X praised Poland as “a strategic partner in promoting a free and prosperous future and in advocating for greater defence spending by our European partners”.
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