European Union to offer Ukraine emergency €1.2 billion aid package

BRUSSELS (WNI) — The European Union is to offer Ukraine a new financial package of grants and loans totalling 1.2 billion euros to support it during the current conflict.

The package of measures, announced Monday, includes emergency loans and grants of which will make up a new macro-financial assistance package (MFA). This will include a first payment of 600 million euros, which will be followed by further financial assistance to help the country modernise.

The European Commission also confirmed it would be nearly doubling its current bilateral assistance to Ukraine in terms of grants for 2022 with another 120 million euros of support. The financing will be used to improve Ukraine’s state infrastructure and resilience efforts.

Following the recent military buildup of Russian forces around Ukraine, the EU and other nations have been forging new ways to help the country in the case it should be invaded by its larger neighbour.

While discussions continue between Russia and western powers, there is a heightened anxiety over the risk of a conflict in the region.

On Monday afternoon, President Biden spoke to leaders of several European nations to discuss the deteriorating situation with Russia’s large buildup of military forces on the borders of Ukraine. The call covered areas including joint efforts to deter Russia from carrying out any aggression on Ukrainian soil.

The U.S. has also readied up to 8,500 personnel for imminent deployment to Europe according to a statement by the Pentagon on Tuesday. The personnel would be part of NATO’s Response Force (NRF), and have been placed on high alert should the security situation worsen.