€50 bln aid for Ukraine: All 27 EU states give previous agreement, says PM
Ukraine is counting on the approval by the European Union on February 1 of a new support program for our country, the Ukraine Facility, for 50 billion euros in 2024-2027, says Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal after the government meeting on January 26.
"Preliminarily, we can say that all 27 EU members have agreed to support this program," the official said
Shmyhal also said that Kyiv expects that the European Union will be able to provide financial assistance this year at approximately the level of last year.
"To cover the deficit of the Ukrainian budget, it is important for us to attract about 18 billion euros from the European Union," the Prime Minister said.
The head of the Cabinet of Ministers also mentioned the plan of Administration of the President of the United States of America Joe Biden to provide 11.8 billion dollars to the budget in 2024.
"We rely on a positive decision of the American Congress on this issue in the near future," Shmyhal said.
EU aid for Ukraine
In December of last year, at the summit of the leaders of the European Union, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, vetoed the provision of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine agreed by Brussels.
Now all 27 EU national leaders will meet again in Brussels on February 1 to try to agree on providing financial assistance to Ukraine.
Earlier, on January 25, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Elina Valtonen, announced that the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, would remove the veto on the provision of 50 billion euros of aid to Ukraine. The EU has already received a "positive signal" on this issue from the head of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, yesterday the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, during a press conference with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, said that Bratislava will not create any obstacles in the approval of 50 billion euros by the EU to Ukraine.
Read more about how the EU is negotiating with Ukraine and whether Orban will be deprived of his veto right, in the RBC-Ukraine article.