Ukraine has received almost €4.2 billion from the European Union. It is the first payment under the Ukraine Facility, a plan that aims to support the country’s recovery in the face of Russia’s aggression. This came as Ukraine announced it had taken over two dozen settlements in a surprise incursion in the Kursk region.
The four-year Ukraine Facility plan went into force on 1 March of this year.
The EU will provide up to €50 billion in grants and loans, aiming to play a significant role in Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction and modernisation.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday that the government expected to receive one more tranche from the Ukraine Facility by the end of the year, and would channel the funds to finance social and humanitarian spending.
The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged his country’s incursion into Russia for the first time in a video message.
On Monday Zelensky said the military operation in the Kursk region was an attempt to stop Russian shelling.
“It is only fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are, where they launch their strikes from,” he said.
Zelensky added that this tactic can be useful for bringing peace closer and that “Russia must be forced into peace”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said Kyiv was not interested in “taking over” Russian territory and defended Ukraine’s actions as “absolutely legitimate”.
“The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace… the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defence forces into Russia will stop,” Tykhy told a press conference.
Negotiating position
An analysis by French news agency AFP of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War indicated that Ukrainian troops had advanced over an area of at least 800 square kilometres of Russian territory as of Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to “dislodge” Ukrainian troops. He told a televised meeting with officials on Monday that “one of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord” and “destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society”.
Putin also said Ukraine wanted to “improve its negotiating position” for any future talks with Moscow.
The European Union is not involved in Ukraine’s military offensive in Russia but notes that they support Ukraine’s right to defend itself, according to Nabila Massrali, an EU Commission spokesperson.
“The EU is not involved and not commenting on the operational developments on the front line,” Massrali said.
“We are fully standing behind Ukraine’s legitimate exercise of its inherent rights for self-defence and efforts to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty and to push back and fight the illegal aggression by Russia.”
