EU members have approved a €50 billion (£39 billion) aid package for Ukraine, but what does it look like?
Headlines are so often made by vast sums of money being pledged, it can be hard to deduce which ones to pay attention to.
Here’s a closer look at the state of Ukraine’s finances.
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The two key players are the EU and the United States. As of December, the EU and its countries had pledged €133 billion in support, followed by the United States with €71 billion, for the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
The rest of the world donated only €37 billion.
Most of the U. S. aid is for military support, while the EU has presented most of its aid in the form of monetary support.
Ukraine’s spending
A single day of fighting costs about €125m, Ukrainian finance minister Serhiy Marchenko has said.
So it’s not unexpected that Ukraine spends almost all of its domestic revenue stream on the defense sector and the military, but that does mean it wants big injections of money to pay for social benefits, salaries, and pensions.
The government expects a budget deficit of approximately €40bn this year, and expects to receive €38bn in international aid to help cover it.
EU aid
Kyiv hopes to see €18bn of that coming from the EU’s Ukraine Facility: The €50bn support package agreed today which will be delivered through to 2027.
What about American aid?
Kyiv is seeking €7.8bn to help cover its budget deficit, senior lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak has said.
President Joe Biden has asked Congress for about $97 billion to fund border security plans with Ukraine, Israel and the United States, but Republicans rejected the sum in October.
A vote will be held in the Senate next week after discussions on investment in those three areas.
the world’s
Ukraine expects to receive €5 billion in IMF loans this year, which are related to some reforms by Ukraine.
Another €1.4bn is expected from other international financial institutions, including the World Bank.
Financial measures are also expected from the United Kingdom and Japan, while negotiations are ongoing in Canada, Norway and South Korea.
China has called on Ukraine to remove Chinese corporations from a list of corporations designated as “international war sponsors. “
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters there would otherwise be unspecified “negative impacts”.
Ukraine has listed 48 corporations around the world, totaling 14 Chinese, as aiding or contributing to Russia’s war efforts.
The blacklist, which has no legal implications, calls for situations it describes as extensive cooperation between the Chinese and Russians in sectors such as oil and gas.
The U. S. has eight companies on the list, while France and Germany have four each.
Before the war, China was Ukraine’s biggest trade partner and it remains an important consumer of Ukrainian grain, sunflower oil and iron ore.
From Kyiv’s Black Sea Maritime Corridor, 30% of maritime exports were shipped to China.
Ukraine has been careful not to anger the world’s second-largesteconomy and has repeatedly appealed to Beijing to join Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts.
While a key meeting on aid to Ukraine is announced.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, after an EU summit that secured 50 billion euros in aid, the U. S. Senate will vote before next Thursday on a bill that provides a budget for Ukraine, Israel and border security.
“We cannot simply shirk from our responsibilities just because the task is difficult,” said the chamber’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer.
Joe Biden asked Congress for nearly €97 billion in October, but Republicans in the House rejected the sum.
Explained: The two key players behind aid for Ukraine are the EU and US, but Ukraine has yet to see any new funds this year.
In December, the EU and its countries pledged €133 billion in support, followed by the United States with €71 billion for the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
The rest of the world donated only €37 billion.
Ahead of the summit, anonymous data and leaks explained the consequences Hungary could suffer if it didn’t play along, including damage to its economy and a freeze on Budapest’s right to vote on EU decisions.
Another diplomat said, “It’s reached a boiling point. “
He claimed victory by saying he had secured a “control mechanism” – regular reviews of the aid – to save face but it has “no teeth”, another diplomat said.
Three other foreigners were wounded in the attack on the city of Beryslav in Kherson province, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
A Ukrainian national was also injured, according to police.
Sky News cannot independently verify these reports.
By Sean Bell, Military Analyst
Although the alleged sinking of the Russian ship is unlikely to replace the course of the war, it is an example of Ukrainian technological innovation.
The Ukrainians no longer have an established navy, yet they are still able to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet and force the Russians to hide their military ships.
The Russians use shipping to provide the bulk of the logistics resupply of their forces in Ukraine, so although these Ukrainian attacks are tactically focused, they will cause Russia to reconsider the deployment of its military resources – particularly in and around Crimea.
Ukraine has had a difficult winter so far. Last year’s long-awaited spring offensive bore no fruit and the front line remains largely static. President Putin’s confidence has returned, while the West seems to have waned in Ukraine.
However, the 27 members of the EU earlier today agreed unanimously to provide a €50bn package of aid for Ukraine. EU President Ursula Von der Leyen described it as a very good day for Europe.
While the money will be welcome, what President Zelensky wants is a military capability.
Russia has bolstered its defense trade base to meet its needs for ammunition and weapons, and North Korea and Iran are offering Russia a developing range of military capabilities.
The recent announcement that the West will not deliver the promised 1 million artillery shells until March hints at the broader challenge that will have to be faced if the military in Ukraine is to meet or exceed what is required.
In any case, the destruction of another shipment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will boost Ukrainian morale after a very difficult few weeks for President Zelensky.
Ukrainian military intelligence has released spectacular-looking maritime drones destroying a Russian warship.
The GUR reported that the Ivanovets missile ship was patrolling the Black Sea near Lake Donuzlav.
The black-and-white video appears to show a large explosion before the shipment tilts about 90 degrees and sinks.
Russia has accused the United States of making plans to place nuclear weapons in the UK as part of a “never-ending cycle of escalation”.
Researchers at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) say RAF Lakenheath, an air force base in Suffolk, is being refurbished to store US weapons, but neither the UK nor the US have confirmed reports.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is in charge of arms control, said this would deter Russia.
“If they say that the reintroduction of nuclear weapons into the UK has a deterrent effect on Russia, then they are wrong,” he told Russia Today.
“We urge them to stop… this endless circle of escalation.”
Five NATO countries — Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey — host a total of about 100 U. S. tactical nuclear weapons at six bases, according to the FAS.
In separate remarks, Ryabkov said Russia would not deploy nuclear weapons beyond Belarus.
Vladimir Putin said Moscow transferred some tactical nuclear weapons to its neighbor last year, but the SAF said there is no conclusive evidence of this.
Ukraine has denied claims it allowed a former presidential aide to leave the country despite it being restricted under martial law.
Investigative outlet NGL Media previously reported that Oleksiy Arestovych, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s spokesperson at the start of the war, left Ukraine in September 2023 and has since returned.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 require special permission to leave the country.
The Ukrainian military’s intelligence firm denied the claims in a post on its Telegram channel, saying it “provided the specified user with letters or other documents to pass abroad. “
Arestovych resigned as an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s office last year after claiming that the hit on a residential building in Dnipro, which killed dozens of people, was likely due to the remnants of a Russian missile shot down through Ukrainian air defenses. .
Earlier this month, he recommended challenging Zelensky in Ukraine’s upcoming presidential election.