EU pledges 520 million USD to Ukraine at G7 meeting

The European Union (EU) has announced a 500 million euro ($520 million) aid package for Ukraine to buy heavy weapons in its conflict with Russia, its foreign affairs chief. bloc said at a meeting of the Group of 7 in Germany on May 13.

“We will provide a new 500 million euros to support the Ukrainian army,” Josep Borrell told reporters at Weissenhaus.

The money will be allocated for the purchase of heavy weapons, he added, and the total EU financial support for Ukraine will amount to 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion).

Top diplomats from Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States also attended the meeting.

Countries are planning to put pressure on the Kremlin through economic sanctions, isolate Moscow on the international stage and tackle disinformation spread by Russia, Borrell said.

Oil embargo

EU diplomats are also scheduled to hold talks on May 16 on setting up an embargo on Russian oil.

Hungary opposes the move because Budapest relies heavily on oil from Russia, but Mr. Borrell still expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached.

“I’m sure we’ll have a deal. Because it’s important that we get rid of our dependence on Russian oil,” Mr. Borrell said.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his counterpart from neighboring Moldova, Nicu Popescu, attended the meeting as guests.

Meanwhile, France said the G7 was committed to helping Ukraine win the war against Russia.

According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the G7 countries are “very strongly united” with the goal of “continuing to support Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty until Kiev wins”.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss added that it was “very important” to continue to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin by supplying Ukraine with more weapons and increasing sanctions.

“The unity of the G7 is essential in this crisis,” she said.

About 3,500 police were deployed at the event site in northeast Hamburg to ensure security.