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EU leaders meeting in France on Friday looked to double financing for military aid to Ukraine by an extra 500 million euros as Russia’s war also spurred vows from the bloc to bolster its own defences. Watch their press conference live from 2:40 pm Paris time (GMT+1).
EU leaders gathering at the famed Versailles Palace near Paris described Moscow’s attack on Ukraine as a wake-up call for the 27-nation bloc to take a more muscular approach to ensuring its security.
The bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he expected the leaders to sign off on a proposal to expand the spending package that has seen the bloc fund weapons going to Ukraine.
The EU last month broke a long-standing taboo by agreeing to pay for arms deliveries to Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of his pro-Western neighbour.
The move was part of a broad push by Ukraine’s allies to send weapons amid desperate pleas from Kyiv for more support to help it fight off the Kremlin’s advancing forces.
Officials said the new tranche of money would go towards reimbursing EU nations that were unilaterally sending arms requested by Kyiv.
Ukraine has been pushing for its allies to supply air defence systems to help prevent Russian bombings after the West rebuffed calls to impose a no-fly zone.
‘Invest more’
As the EU has broken new ground in sending arms abroad it has also been shocked into reconsidering its approach to security after decades relying on US-led NATO to ensure Europe’s defences.
Leaders were due to commit “to increase substantially defence expenditures” and bolster cooperation on defence projects between member states at the talks at the historic Palace of Versailles
“We must resolutely invest more and better in defence capabilities and innovative technologies,” said a draft version of the final…
Source : france24
