EU to offer Ukraine drastically watered down arms package

French soldiers fire arms during military drills in Estonia – Sergei Grits/AP

The European Union is set to offer Ukraine a single tranche of €5 billion in weapons as part of a diluted plan to arm the war-torn nation.

The bloc had previously planned to commit to a €20 billion scheme over four years to keep weaponry flowing from Europe to Kyiv.

Its new plan does not lock in long-term military support, with any further aid packages reliant on renewed approval from member states.

However, approval could be hard to win amid mounting national disputes over donations to Kyiv, with future developments in the war also likely to impact the calculations made in EU capitals.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, – REUTERS

Officials say the revised plan is expected to be voted through when EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday for an emergency summit on support for Ukraine.

A majority of the bloc’s 27 member states were said to be in favour of the new scheme, after opposition to the previous, multi-year plan from Germany and Hungary.

Ahead of the summit, a senior EU official said: “There is no agreement yet but we have a majority pushing for €5 billion yearly.”

Previously, the scheme – known as the European Peace Facility (EPF) – allowed national capitals to be compensated from the EU’s budget for weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

Berlin, the EU’s largest economy, complained the system hadn’t taken into account its €17 billion in bilateral military support since Russia launched its invasion almost two years ago.

Others raised issues with smaller, former Soviet countries which they said had used the pot to essentially rebuild their militaries with modern equipment, at the cost of the bloc’s larger economies.

The fund, if agreed by EU leaders on Thursday, will likely focus on deliveries of weapons produced inside the bloc, with existing stockpiles said to be dwindling.

“Now that we see the situation of stocks in Europe, we need to have the EPF evolving towards production,” the official said.

The move will make it harder for countries to reclaim cash for weapons not produced by manufacturers based inside of the EU. The source added it would also take into account Germany’s bilateral donations.

The EU’s new plan does not lock in long-term military support for Ukraine – Libkos

It will also factor in deliveries of non-lethal aid to overcome opposition from Hungary, which has refused to send weapons to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

The breakthrough on weapons deliveries will likely be matched with a separate pledge of €50 billion in financial support for Ukraine over the next four years.

Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has suggested he would drop his opposition to the scheme, which he blocked at a EU summit last year, if he is offered an “emergency brake” to pause aid in the future.

“Hungary is ready to participate in the solution of the 27 if you guarantee that each year we will decide whether or not to send this money,” he told French magazine Le Point.

“And this annual decision must have the same legal basis as today: it must be unanimous.”

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