The E.U. pledges another $3.8 billion in potential military aid for Ukraine.
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European Union countries have agreed to donate a further 3.5 billion euros, or about $3.8 billion, to a fund used for military aid for Ukraine, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, said on Monday, adding that the brief rebellion in Russia over the weekend had added to the urgency of supporting Kyiv.
The money will be added to the European Peace Facility, a fund that is used to finance E.U. foreign and security priorities. The fund, which has an upper limit of €12 billion, has already allocated €4.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine, according to a statement from the bloc.
Meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, Mr. Borrell and European foreign ministers described the rebellion led by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, as mainly a Russian domestic matter but noted that it demonstrated the importance of European nations’ remaining united on Ukraine.
“What has happened during this weekend shows that the war against Ukraine is cracking Russian power and affecting its political system,” Mr. Borrell said.
Catherine Colonna, the French foreign minister, told reporters before the meeting that although the Wagner mutiny showed “internal tensions” within the Russian political system, it was too early to draw definitive conclusions. “There are many uncertainties and we probably have not yet seen all the consequences of these events,” she said.
Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began 16 months ago, has prompted the European Union to impose successive rounds of sanctions against Moscow and to sharply reduce imports of Russian oil and gas.
Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting.
— Matthew Mpoke Bigg
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