EU's Borrell puts forward €20bn Ukraine military aid plan

Russia launches fresh attacks on port facilities at Odesa and Mykolaiv after withdrawing from Black Sea export deal

Josep Borrell, the EU representative for foreign affairs and security, in Brussels on Thursday. EPA

The EU's 27 foreign affairs ministers on Thursday discussed a plan put forward by the bloc's diplomatic chief Josep Borrell to spend up to €20 billion ($22.4 billion) on weapons, ammunition and other military aid to Ukraine.

The EU would allocate €5 billion ($5.57 billion) a year for the next four years to a “dedicated section” of an already-existing fund that the bloc has used to send military aid to Ukraine called the European Peace Facility, said Mr Borrell.

“This is the evaluation of the needs of the cost of our long term security commitments to Ukraine,” he told reporters in Brussels.

The EPF has already allocated more than €5 billion in support for Ukraine since February last year. The facility is used to reimburse EU countries for at least part of the cost of weapons, ammunition and other military aid that they give to nations outside the bloc.

Mr Borrell said that ministers would discuss his proposal in detail at a meeting in Spain in August.

He also blasted Russia for its recent missile and drone attacks on the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv that wounded at least 20 people on Thursday. A previous round of strikes destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain meant for export.

The attacks came after Russia quit a deal meant to enable Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, which was brokered by the UN and Turkey in July last year.

Mr Borrell described the attacks, which caused wheat prices to soar on the European stock exchange, as an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to “starve the world population in order to gain extra money.”

Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest grain and sunflower oil exporters. Blocking its maritime export routes imperils food security around the globe.

Russia had threatened to withdraw from the grain deal several times in the past year, complaining that the West was not implementing a separate agreement with the UN to enable its food and fertiliser exports to world markets.

Mr Borrell disputed Russian claims.

“Contrary to what Russia is claiming, it is making good profits from its exports of grain and fertiliser, and will make better profits now when prises rise again after Russia killed the deal and destroyed stockpiles in Ukrainian harbours,” said Mr Borrell.

The deal had allowed Ukraine to export 32 million tonnes of food in the past year to 45 countries, including 725,000 tonnes shipped by the World Food Programme to vulnerable countries including Afghanistan and Yemen.

Germany's foreign affairs minister Annalena Baerbock said as she arrived to the meeting in Brussels that Ukrainian grain should not “rot in silos.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need the grain from Ukraine,” she said.

“We are working with all our international partners so that the grain in Ukraine does not rot in silos in the next few weeks, but reaches the people of the world who urgently need it.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that he “deeply regretted” Russia’s decision to pull out of the grain deal. He detailed measures put in place by the UN to help Russia export its grain and fertiliser, which in some cases have increased since last year.

The UN also built a “bespoke payment mechanism” for Russia’s Agricultural Bank after Moscow requested that the bank be relinked to the international Swift payment system, according to Mr Guterres.

Complicating matters further, five Eastern European countries, including Poland, want an EU ban on grain imports from Ukraine to be extended at least until the end of the year.

The ban was first introduced after complaints from local farmers saying that cheap Ukrainian products were flooding their markets and driving down prices.

Poland will not lift the ban when it is set to expire on September 15 even if the EU does not agree on its extension, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal condemned Poland's decision, describing it as a “unfriendly and populist move”.

“During this critical time, Poland intends to continue blocking the export of UA [Ukrainian] grain to the EU. This is an unfriendly and populist move that will severely impact global food security and Ukraine's economy,” Mr Shmyhal wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Agricultural exports are crucial for Ukraine's economy, making up about 12 per cent of gross domestic product before Russia's invasion in February 2022 and about 60 per cent of all exports.

European foreign affairs ministers also held a 90-minute discussion with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken by video link in addition to examining a request by Turkey to re-open talks regarding its long-time request to join the EU.

Mr Borrell said that tensions between EU members Greece and Cyprus with Turkey would be a “vital element” in these discussions.

Turkey, for its part, wants to discuss a customs union agreement and visa liberalisation, according to the Spanish politician.

“It's a two-way thing. It's not just a matter of what the EU expects from Turkey. It's also about what Turkey expects from the EU,” said Mr Borrell.