UK joins EU loan for Ukraine but must meet three conditions
Photo: Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
The United Kingdom’s participation in the EU’s €90 billion loan program for Ukraine is an important political signal, European Commission spokesperson for budget Balazs Ujvari said at a European Commission briefing.
European Commission’s position
The European Commission positively assessed the UK’s intention to join the European Union’s €90 billion loan mechanism to support Ukraine.
Speaking in Brussels, Ujvari said London’s announcement is seen as a significant step, but technical negotiations still lie ahead.
"Today is an important day, and we have seen a clear political signal from the United Kingdom to join the €90 billion loan assistance package for Ukraine. Now obviously it's a first step," he said.
The European Commission spokesperson also stressed that the Commission will now have to continue substantive talks to agree on a number of different points.
Conditions for the UK’s participation
The European Commission emphasized that for full participation in the program, London must meet several requirements.
These include three key conditions that still need to be agreed upon by the parties.
"First of all, it has to have what we call a security and defense partnership in the union," Ujvari emphasized.
The second condition is that the UK must provide significant financial and military support to Ukraine, and the Commission will have to assess this criterion.
"And third, the UK must also commit to providing a fair and proportionate financial contribution to the costs arising from borrowing, and that has to be proportionate to the value of contracts awarded to entities established in the UK," the spokesperson explained.
Next steps and negotiations
The European Commission said it is ready to accelerate discussions with London. At the same time, it stressed that the total size of the €90 billion program will remain unchanged, even if the United Kingdom joins.
"This will not change the overall capacity of 90 billion programme, so that's the EU's contribution, but what it could allow the UK to do is to be an actor taking part, for example, when it comes to procuring defense equipment," Ujvari added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during which the sides discussed defense support for Ukraine, the situation in the energy sector, and possible steps within peace initiatives.
