President's Office Expresses Confidence in Ukraine's Financial Support from EU

Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the President's Office, has said he is confident that the EU will decide to provide assistance to Ukraine at the beginning of 2024.

"There is confidence. There is a political solution. We all know that €50 billion will be allocated to Ukraine. Nuances [are] in technology. Why was the decision postponed until the European Council's informal meeting on 1 February? As far as I understand, the leaders did not manage to develop a toolkit," Zhovkva said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He stated that the EU has several options for allocating the necessary financial assistance to Ukraine.

"For example, from the perspective of using the EU's common budget. It's not only about Ukraine – these are changes to the EU budget. This is the first option. If it doesn't work out, bilateral agreements are another option. Work is underway on a donor platform, where our government officials collaborate with the European Commission. I am confident that a technical solution will be [implemented] too, and this funding will appear very soon," Zhovkva added.

President of the European Council Charles Michel at the end of the talks among the EU leaders on 14-15 December said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked the adoption of the EU budget decision, including a €50 billion medium-term aid program for Ukraine.

The leaders agreed on an extraordinary summit dedicated to this issue, which will be held on 1 February 2024.