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Polish FM calls for EU financial, military aid to Ukraine

23.01.2024 07:00
Poland is urging the European Union to provide Ukraine with financial and military assistance "as soon as possible" to help Kyiv's fight against the Russian invasion, the Polish foreign minister has said.  
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski attends the European Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2024.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski attends the European Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2024. PAP/EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Radosław Sikorski made the statement at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Poland's top diplomat said he agreed with Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, that Kyiv needed ammunition, adding that "the more ammunition Ukraine has, the fewer casualties there will be, and the longer the range of the ammunition, the sooner the war will end."

Sikorski said that Poland was at the forefront of helping Ukraine, "in terms of military and financial assistance, and support for refugees, as a proportion of GDP," while other nations "have also allocated enormous sums."

The Polish foreign minister said that "hopefully EU leaders will approve the EUR 50 billion in financial aid to Ukraine until 2027, at their summit next week," as Hungary "seems inclined" to drop its veto and back the plan.

Otherwise, the other 26 EU nations will support Ukraine by issuing guarantees, enabling Brussels to raise billions of euros for Kyiv on capital markets, Polish Radio's polskieradio24.pl website reported.

Sikorski also said the EU countries had reached a "political agreement" to use frozen Russian assets to help finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. 

The bloc's foreign ministers on Monday agreed to allocate "profits generated by the blocked assets of Russia's central bank" to help rebuild Ukraine, according to officials.

These frozen assets total some EUR 300 billion globally, of which around EUR 200 billion is held by the EU, polskieradio24.pl website reported.

Tuesday is day 699 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.

Source: IAR,polskieradio24.pl