The US and the West have continuously provided aid to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia broke out (Photo: AFP).
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted a well-informed source on January 21 saying that the EU is considering a new plan to maintain aid to Ukraine.
Specifically, the bloc plans to set up a fund worth nearly $22 billion to reimburse each member country for providing military support to Ukraine, including ammunition, drones and missiles.
Under the proposed initiative, the fund would receive up to $5.5 billion per year from 2024 to 2027. The fund would receive $7 billion from the European Peace Fund (EPF), the EU's extra-budgetary instrument to compensate members for aid to Ukraine.
Any surplus funds will be used to cover the costs of the EU military training programme for Kiev.
EU officials are expected to formally discuss the issue early next week and it will be a key part of the agenda at the EU summit in February.
The WSJ warns that a major drawback of the plan is that it would require unanimous support from EU members. However, it would allow smaller countries to pool their resources to help Ukraine and eliminate the need for regular aid shipments that Hungary often blocks.
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