The European Commission on Thursday announced the disbursement of another 1.5 billion euros in macro-financial support to Ukraine, in a total package of 18 billion allocated this year, and asked European leaders to maintain financial support to Kiev. Moscow warned that Russia will give an “absolutely symmetrical” response to the seizure of its assets in Europe.
“Today we have paid out the last €1.5 billion of our €18 billion aid package for 2023 to Ukraine,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on the social network X.
Emphasizing that the European Union “is on the side of [país] neighbor, friend and aspiring member,” Leyen urged European leaders, who meet at an extraordinary summit on February 1, to “reach an agreement to continue to provide Ukraine with the support it needs to recover , rebuild and reform.” the future financial reserve of 50 billion euros for Ukraine, currently proposed in the long-term budget, after the disagreement at last week’s summit over Hungary’s blockade.
This financial reserve for Kiev is intended to be approved in the context of the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2024-2027, but at a time when the EU has already put forward €18 billion in macro-financial support to Ukraine, this program is considered as “plan B” in order not to stop European aid to the country.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke on Thursday about European support to Ukraine and said that the financial support should not be spread over several years, “because we do not know what will happen in five years”, but also that this financial aid should not be spread over several years. years may be divided. channeled through the European budget. Regarding values, Orbán argued that “the amount should be determined based on the amount of support the US provides.”
In Moscow, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov assured on Thursday that the country will give an “absolutely symmetrical” response to the seizure of its assets in Europe, after Brussels admitted to seizing more Russian assets.
Siluanov said Russia has frozen enough European assets to match the response, including bank accounts, dividends and liabilities of “foreign counter-agents from enemy countries.”
The EU announced a new package of sanctions against Russia on Monday over the war in Ukraine and said it is evaluating the possibility of using proceeds from frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine.
With agencies
Source: DN
